No Mayor can build major roads and fix air pollution says Sian Berry
Sian Berry, the Green candidate for Mayor of London, has welcomed today’s YouGov poll in which Londoners say she is jointly most trusted to improve the city’s air.
But she also warns that her fellow candidates for Mayor – including Zac Goldsmith, with whom she shares first place in the poll – have policies that will make London’s air pollution worse not better.
Their support for major new road-building projects – which are likely to intensify the crisis - is at the heart of the London Green Party’s vote last night to set “red lines” as a basis for talks on a possible second-preference endorsement on 5 May.
Sian said today:
“It’s good that Londoners are responding positively to my comprehensive plan to tackle air pollution. But policies are more important than polls and the other candidates have a very long way to go on air pollution. That’s why Clean Air in London, which scored my policies 10 out of 10, gave Sadiq Khan five out of 10 and Zac Goldsmith a woeful three out of 10.
“The red lines the Green Party agreed last night for considering second preference endorsements have the health of Londoners at heart, and the other parties need to listen to us. In particular, until Zac Goldsmith and Sadiq Khan rule out building major new roads that will worsen pollution – most notably the Silvertown Tunnel – they cannot be trusted to fix the air pollution problem.”
Note to editors:
The London Green Party’s governing body passed the following motion on Monday evening:
The London Federation of Green Parties shall consider whether or not to endorse a second preference in the Mayoral contest at its April general meeting, based upon the leading candidates' positions on key policies, in particular four red lines:
1. opposition to any expansion of London's airports in view of our climate change and air pollution emergencies;
2. opposition to major road building projects, which increase traffic and pollution;
3. no estate demolition to be forced on communities, and practical support for estates under threat;
4. a clear commitment to reducing London’s inequality.