Teresa has today warned that Boris Johnson is putting public health at risk by spending large sums of taxpayers’ money hiding London’s air pollution.
In a letter to the Secretary of State for Environment, Caroline Spelman, Teresa and other London Labour MPs have condemned London Mayor Boris Johnson for spending £1.5 million of public money gluing harmful pollutants to the road in an attempt to artificially reduce the readings around air quality monitoring stations.
The letter warns that spraying pollution suppressants in front of official air quality monitors does nothing to affect actual emissions; it simply misleads the people of London about the quality of the air they are breathing, while putting the UK at risk of millions of pounds of fines for failing to comply with European law for reducing air pollution in the UK.
Teresa said:
“Air pollution is a big concern for people in Erith and Thamesmead because we are so close to City Airport. What we need is action to improve air quality not to cover it up. What the Mayor is doing is a bit like putting an oxygen mask on the canary in the mines.”
