*Mayor must protect our air

Responding to reports that London’s air quality is so bad that the capital faces unlimited European fines, Darren Johnson, Green Party London Assembly Member, has told the London Mayor that traffic reduction is unavoidable if he wants to stop the court action.

“Boris has clearly stated that traffic reduction has a role to play in improving air quality and preserving the health of Londoners. Technological change, on its own, will not deliver the improvements fast enough. With hundreds of thousands of Londoners exposed to dangerously polluted air everyday, it is time for the Mayor to act.”

“Unfortunately, of the few clear decisions that Boris has taken so far, many will worsen, not improve air quality. He has cancelled a traffic reduction scheme at Parliament Square, dropped public procurement of hydrogen cars and is consulting about reversing the western extension of the congestion charging?”

“Rather than saying one thing and doing another, London’s new Mayor must show that the health of Londoners is his priority by taking cars off the roads, replacing them with cyclists, pedestrians, and public transport.”