Toxic air was once a silent killer. No longer. We have known for some time that long-term exposure to human-made pollution — from transport, industry and heating — is linked to strokes, heart disease and lung cancer. The annual mortality rate is roughly 30,000 a year.
That is why the Government has called air pollution “the largest environmental risk to public health”. It is therefore hugely concerning that the ministers have chosen to condemn another generation of children to toxic air.
Plans to set a target for PM2.5 — particles linked to ill-health — have been postponed until 2040. The EU, for its part, has laid out its intention for the goal to be reached by 2030.
This discrepancy has no scientific basis and makes a mockery of claims by ministers that Brexit would not lead to a watering down of environmental standards. Indeed, the Government’s own watchdog — the Office for Environmental Protection — has criticised the delay and warned that targets are too weak, including on toxic air.
Sadiq Khan has rightly placed air quality at the centre of his mayoralty. Every Londoner has a right to breathe clean air. The Government must commit to the 2030 target.
Pay squeeze warning
The wage squeeze continues. Even before tomorrow’s inflation figures, salaries remain some distance from keeping apace. In July to September 2022, real-terms regular pay fell by another 2.6 per cent. Slightly smaller than the previous three months. But as the Office for National Statistics points out, these falls are among the largest since comparable records began in 2001.
Meanwhile, the spectre of unemployment is starting to rear its head. While labour shortages is the story of the moment, recession and rising interest rates have contributed to unemployment increasing slightly to 3.6 per cent. Still exceptionally low, but an early warning sign.
This is the backdrop to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement on Thursday. There are global factors at play that threaten the UK economy. The ongoing effects of the pandemic, of course, as well as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
But there are also uniquely British characteristics that are making the situation far worse: Brexit, which has permanently reduced the productive capacity of the UK economy, and the disastrous mini-Budget, which sapped confidence from the markets.
Rainbow warriors
Last week, Qatar World Cup ambassador Khalid Salman called homosexuality a “damage in the mind”. This dangerous, offensive and ridiculous assertion is perhaps unsurprising in a nation where same-sex relations can lead to imprisonment or even death.
World Cup players have faced calls to protest against these laws. The England team today staged a small one of its own, flying out to Qatar on an aircraft called ‘Rain Bow’ replete with a cartoon mascot wearing rainbow-themed trainers. It is only a small gesture, but it matters.
It should not be only up to footballers to make the point. Fifa’s response has been to say now is the time not to be political but instead to focus on the football. It is wrong. The time to celebrate diversity is when the cameras are rolling and the pressure is on.
