17 April 2014
Green Party leader, Natalie Bennett, and lead European election candidate for the region, Peter Cranie, will stage a protest in Liverpool today to highlight the city’s high levels of air pollution. Last week Public Health England released statistics which reveal that in just one year 239 people in Liverpool died because of air pollution.
Public Health England's report estimates that In the North West 3427 deaths in 2010 (5.1% of all deaths) were attributable to air pollution. Across the UK it is estimated that 25,002 people died because of air pollution in 2010. [1] Merseyside is currently breaking the safe limits on air pollution which are set by the European Union. Earlier this year the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK.
Natalie Bennett, leader of the Green Party, said: “These shocking new statistics, which show that hundreds of people in Liverpool, and thousands of people across the UK, are dying because of air pollution, make it clear that urgent action is needed to clean up our air. Young children, those who have asthma and elderly people are all at greater risk of health problems caused by air pollution.”
She continued: “We can’t allow this invisible public health crisis to continue. Now that these statistics have revealed the high numbers of deaths caused by air pollution, it is time for government ministers to take this issue seriously and take urgent action to protect people’s health.”
Peter Cranie, the North West Green Party’s European election candidate, lives in Liverpool with his wife and two young sons. He said: “With one in twenty deaths in Liverpool caused by air pollution it is abundantly clear that bold action from the city council is needed. Scrapping the city’s bus lanes and discouraging people from taking the bus flies in the face of common sense. Instead we need more public transport options, plus a significant increase in the numbers of people cycling and walking.”
Ross Campbell, co-chair of Liverpool Young Greens, said: “In my job as a support worker I often catch between four and eight buses a day across Liverpool. I've noticed a big decline in the frequency and regularity of public transport across the city since the bus lanes were shut down. Even the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transports described the trial as an “ill considered experiment”. The council should reopen all bus lanes with immediate effect, and apologise to commuters for the implementation of a botched, poorly planned and poorly executed policy that puts the short-term needs of motorists ahead of the long-term structural and environmental needs of the city of Liverpool."
Notes to editors:
1) http://www.hpa.org.uk/webc/HPAwebFile/HPAweb_C/1317141074607
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