KEITH Taylor, MEP for the South East, is calling on Theresa May to commit to maintaining and strengthening the UK’s current air quality laws, as a leading environmental lawyer warns air pollution safeguards are likely to be lost as the UK leaves the EU.
Air pollution is responsible for the preventable deaths of 50,000 people a year in the UK, but the government openly admits that its faltering efforts to improve the quality of the air that we breathe have been driven entirely by EU laws. Last year the government was successfully held to account in the Supreme Court by environmental lawyers ClientEarth for breaking EU legislation and ordered to create an action plan.
Alan Andrews, the lead lawyer on the case, is now warning that if the UK leaves the EU and fails to remain in the single market then both the EU laws and domestic legislation that implements them is likely to be lost or repealed.
Speaking in London on Monday at the launch of a new air pollution report, backed by Greenpeace and ClientEarth, Alan Andrews said:
“When we do leave the EU, the safest assumption is that the ambient air quality directive, at least in its current form, will fall away. We’ll then have some national regulations that implement EU law – air quality standards from 2010 – so theoretically we’d still be bound by them but my guess is pretty soon we’d see them being repealed or watered down.”
Andrews also had a stark warning about the role air pollution regulations might play in any post-EU trade deals, adding:
“What role the environment plays in any agreement will depend upon the priorities of the negotiators. I don’t think the environment is top of anyone’s priorities.”
Keith Taylor MEP welcomed Andrews’ intervention.
“It is vital that air pollution is on Theresa May’s agenda, leaving the EU cannot be allowed to become a cover under which the government abdicates its responsibility for this public health emergency,” he said.
The vocal air quality campaigner added:
“Despite the preventable deaths of 50,000 British people, every year, and an annual public health bill of £20bn, the government has continually failed to take the air quality crisis seriously. Under David Cameron, the government was held to account for failing to do the bare minimum, as required by EU law, to improve the quality of the air we all breathe.
EU air pollution limits are preventing 80,000 deaths every year across Europe. For the sake of the health and prosperity of the British people, we cannot risk scrapping these safeguards.
I am calling on Theresa May to give high priority to maintaining and strengthening environmental protection and EU air quality standards.”