Air pollution: The policies which prompted the proliferation of diesel under Labour should be a warning to the Tories today

Analysis: Tackling poisonous air pollution requires environmental and social vision, writes Harry Cockburn

Boris Johnson’s spending on cycling policies is dwarfed by his roads budget (PA)

In the late 1990s, diesel vehicles accounted for around 12 per cent of all licensed cars. But by 2017, this figure had risen dramatically so diesels accounted for almost half of all cars on the road.  

Why did this happen? In 2001 Tony Blair’s government chose to ignore warnings about the health risks diesel cars posed, and introduced tax changes which fostered a huge move towards diesel.

Ironically, the then Chancellor Gordon Brown’s new sliding scale for car tax or vehicle excise duty (VED), was aimed at protecting the environment.  

The changes meant petrol cars, which were known to produce slightly more carbon dioxide (CO2), fell into a higher tax bracket, while diesels became comparatively cheaper to run.  

The Labour government made the changes despite being advised about the higher levels of particulates and pollutants caused by diesel, according to previously confidential Treasury files which were revealed in 2017.

The legacy of this botched policy means today there remain 12.3 million licensed diesel cars on UK roads, accounting for just under 40 per cent of all cars, according to the latest government figures.

The terrifying result of this shift has been a colossal increase in the toxic air pollutant nitrogen dioxide (NO2), which is overwhelmingly produced by diesel vehicles.

This toxic gas inflames the airways in the human respiratory system and is believed to contribute to the development of asthma and increase people’s susceptibility to respiratory infections.

It also causes acid rain, is a significant contributor to smog, and can affect water courses.

The International Agency for Research on Cancer – part of the World Health Organisation – classified diesel engine exhaust as carcinogenic to humans in 2012.

Air pollution in the UK now kills more people a year than smoking, and the government describes it as the biggest environmental threat to health in the UK with as many as 36,000 deaths a year attributed to long-term exposure.  

There is strong evidence air pollution of the kind produced by road vehicles causes the development of coronary heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and lung cancer, while studies have also linked air pollution to reduced cognitive ability, and dementia.

This is all before the huge toll of the greenhouse gas emissions on the climate have even begun to be considered.

After reaching a high in 2017, numbers of diesel cars on the roads have begun to fall significantly in the UK in the last two years, but the cost has already been far too high, and many more people will suffer before sales of new diesels are banned, along with petrol vehicles in 10 years’ time, as Boris Johnson has promised.  

But even if this modest target is reached, old fossil fuel vehicles which remain on the road will continue to pump toxins into the air for perhaps another decade or longer, while new electric vehicles also come with their own suite of environmental problems, including the production of particulate matter from tyres and brake pads, not to mention their manufacture.

As public awareness of the array of risks posed by combustion engines has grown, so too have the calls for moving away from them and towards better transport options.

In a post-Covid world, clean, green, reliable public transport as well as improved infrastructure to facilitate active travel such as cycling and walking are essential, as are the roll-out of greater numbers of clean air zones in urban areas.

Boris Johnson’s government has set aside just £2bn for its cycling and walking policies, while allocating £27bn for roads.

The UK is already among the world’s most road-covered countries with over 80 per cent of land falling within half a mile of a road, highlighting our detrimental obsession with our vehicles.

All the research indicates it is time to look again at our relationship with the natural world and our various means of transport.