Today the Mayor’s Environment Advisor suggested to LBC Radio that school children should not be allowed to play outside during periods of high air pollution:
"Perhaps there is an argument for when air pollution levels are very high in those few schools that are in air quality hotspots, it might be sensible for the more vulnerable pupils not to be running around in the playground at playtime."
Reacting to the comments, Murad Qureshi AM, London Labour Assembly Environment spokesperson said:
“The comments made by the Mayor’s environment adviser show how ludicrous Boris’s position is. Rather than taking concrete steps to tackle air pollution in London, he is now telling children not to play outside. After 5 years in office, Boris has utterly failed on air pollution. The capital is still among the worst cities in Europe for poor air and, as a result, over 4,000 lives are lost prematurely every year in our city.
“Rather than tackling the problem now, Boris has announced a wish list of proposals that wouldn’t come into effect for another seven years. He has also rowed back on plans to introduce phase 5 of the Low Emissions Zone. In the Labour Group amendment to the Mayor’s budget we provided costed plans to buy an additional 50 Hybrid buses and to move forward with a complete programme of fleet modernisation, which would include a pilot study of all electric vehicles.”
Ends
Notes
1. Murad Qureshi is a Labour London-wide Assembly Member. He chairs the London Assembly’s Health and Environment Committee.
- 2. The Mayor’s Adviser’s comments can be found at http://www.lbc.co.uk/london-pollution-so-bad-children-should-be-kept-inside-68118