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Friends of the Earth calls on Transport Secretary to come clean on VW scandal

news release

Friends of the Earth’s chief executive, Craig Bennett, has written to transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin to confirm whether the UK government knew of attempts by the motor industry to cheat regulators prior to the scandal surrounding VW in the US.

The strongly worded letter seeks urgent assurances on Mr McLoughlin’s promised investigation into diesel vehicles in the UK.  It urges him to ensure that the UK investigation is ‘ruthlessly independent’ and conducted so that key points are fed into an ongoing review of UK air quality this year.

Mr Bennett’s letter argues that there is no such thing as clean diesel and calls for diesel vehicles to be banned outright as soon as is feasible, starting with restricting the use of the most polluting diesels in areas where air quality is of greatest concern.

Poor air quality is one of the most serious public health risks facing us today.  In the UK, it is second only to smoking as a cause of premature death, and kills more people than alcohol and more than obesity. It also hits the most vulnerable and disadvantaged hardest.

Mr Bennett said:

“More than 50,000 people die prematurely in the UK each year because of exposure to air pollution.

“To have knowingly allowed diesel vehicles that did not meet emissions standards onto the UK roads will have contributed to this number – this is a major health scandal and a ‘tobacco moment’ for the motor industry.

“Even if manufacturers haven’t used technology to cheat regulators in the UK, experts have been warning for years of a big discrepancy between emissions tests and the performance of vehicles on the road.

“The Secretary of State must reveal what the Government knew about this issue, and for how long, and take immediate steps to curb diesel pollutants.

“The UK’s investigation is urgent and must be independent, but that should only be the start – the Government must remove the worst diesel vehicles from pollution hotspots now and then set out a timetable to ban diesel altogether by the earliest feasible date.”

 

ENDS

Notes to editors:

1. The letter to Patrick McLoughlin from Friends of the Earth.

2. Friends of the Earth is calling on the investigation to conclude key points in time to feed into the new Air Quality plans. The Government has to produce these by the end of the year following the Supreme Court ruling requiring levels of the toxic gas NO2 to be brought within EU legal limits in the shortest time possible.

3. The problems of air pollution, who is particularly at risk and the joint policy solutions of the Healthy Air Campaign (HAC), of which Friends of the Earth is a partner.

For press information please contact the Friends of the Earth media team on 020 7566 1649.

Published by Friends of the Earth Trust

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