Good, in my opinion, to see the Government fail in the Courts on the issue of air pollution and public health.
Ministers have been told to provide details of a strategy to combat air pollution [strategy, ha!!] in the very near future.
bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-39737981 
Comments
The Torys still have the electoral fraud prosecutions hanging over them with 14 forces still investigating
They exhale more frequently than an Anglo Saxon.
ClientEarth is a grouping of Environmental Lawyers who took the government to court due to the latter’s failure to act. Good on the Judge, say I, for telling Mrs May to get on with it, pronto.
https://clientearth.org/
The problem is the government have been incredibly bad at communicating this, whilst headline writers think "Diesels to be banned" is a far catchier headline than "Some diesels over a certain age that don't meet the latest standards may get banned from certain places".
Can the government persuade the haulage industry to scrap hundreds of thousands of trucks, lorries and vans and use clean electric or cleaner petrol as fuel for new fleets ? .. little chance methinks without huge subsidies and the associated upheaval and economic impact.
It seems that nowadays 'the government' is to be blamed for everything and never a thought for how the habits and behaviour of the 'general public' are to blame for problems like pollution and many other problems which 'the government should do something about'.
As with rifles and guns in America, one of the slogans of the NRA is 'I'll give up mine when you give up yours' .. the same can be said for vehicle owners in the UK
I find it inconceivable that the New Lie-Bore Government didn't have knowledge of and access to data about the dangers of micro-particulates (e.g. PM10s) arising from diesel engines and it's a disgrace that the facts were not widely publicised. I was campaigning on transport and associated air quality issues with direct action group Reclaim The Streets twenty years ago and we were banging on about the hazard of micro-particulates. Who listened? Tory Blur and Jack-Boot Straw were busy sending in the Met's Kettle Cops.
If our 'air' was bottled and sold in shops, what would the labels say? "Contains benzene, particulates, NOx, CO2, lead...." etc. Who would buy it? No-one would. Yet we're made to breathe it and the Tories seek to kick the problem down the road. What a wheeze.
There is validity in the argument, made by others, above, that modern diesels are less polluting than older engines, but new technology alone will not suffice. Much more needs to be done to promote walking, cycling and provide cheaper public transport. Fares went up and up under Mayor Boris Johnson. Tories charging more? Who'd have thought it!
The Tories have to be hauled through the courts before they will act. I have little faith in what they'll come up with. Hand-outs for a diesel scrappage / trade-in scheme, perhaps? How about some meaningful tax-breaks for commuting cyclists, Mrs May?
As the election approaches, let's hope that more people will realise that they hold the key to realising a Left / Green coalition that could, if given the opportunity, bring about positive change. What a breath of fresh air that would be.
It's slightly unfair to blame Brown/Blair by themselves for the diesel fiasco, as this has been common policy across the EU. Nobody else has adopted diesel like the EU; the US, Japan and China have a fraction of the number of diesel cars.
And what's with judges being 'left-wing apologists'? They are one of the most middle-class (at least), right-wing groups around.
No to Silvertown Tunnel - Spring 2017 update and notice of AGM
What’s happening with the Silvertown Tunnel?
We’re coming to the end of Transport for London’s application to build the Silvertown Tunnel.
The public examination into the scheme - effectively a fast-tracked planning inquiry - closed on 11 April. The inspectors have three months to give their recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport, then we should get a final decision in the early autumn.
We’ve had volunteers present at most of the hearings since the process began back in October. The examination - which has been very thorough - has uncovered flaws and contradictions in TfL’s case for building the tunnel and charging for both it and the Blackwall Tunnel.
The process is, in part, meant to resolve problems with the scheme and encourage parties to find common ground.
But the boroughs - even those that support the tunnel - are still unhappy with TfL’s traffic modelling, upon which its predictions of congestion and pollution depend. TfL has also been making some late changes to the scheme, which raise new questions about the validity of its modelling.
While we wait for the final decision, we’d like to thank all those who wrote to the Planning Inspectorate to offer their reasons why the Silvertown Tunnel should be rejected.
You can see all the papers and submissions on the Planning Inspectorate website.
Four local groups - based in and around Beckenham, Blackheath, Brockley and Eltham - carried out air quality studies a few weeks ago thanks to money donated at the funeral of one of our volunteers.
Terry Grant, who died last July, helped us with our original air quality studies in 2013 and 2014.
We wanted to honour his memory, so funded some groups that hadn’t done air quality studies before so they could measure the pollution in their own areas.
The groups carried out their studies in March, and we’re looking forward to seeing the results. Thanks to Andrew Wood at Network for Clean Air for helping us and the groups with these studies.
What happens next? Come to our annual general meeting
We’d like to invite you to No to Silvertown Tunnel‘s annual general meeting. It’ll be at Mycenae House, Blackheath, on Tuesday 16 May at 8pm.
With the end of the planning process near, we’ll need to make some decisions about the future of the campaign. Here’s the agenda for the meeting.
Mycenae House is 10 minutes’ walk from Westcombe Park station (trains from Cannon Street, Greenwich and Woolwich Arsenal) and close to bus routes 53, 54, 108, 202, 380, 386 and 422. There’s a licensed bar, which will also be open after the meeting.
So please come along – it’ll be great to see you. As always, if you have any questions, please drop us a line on info@silvertowntunnel.co.uk.
Best wishes,
No to Silvertown Tunnel
cleanairuk.org/