PARENTS who drive their children to school rather than walk are responsible for damaging the air quality, Thurrock MP, Jackie Doyle-Price said.
The Thurrock MP laid out what the Government is doing to deal with the issue of toxic air, but said individuals need to take more responsibility for their actions.
She was responding to the Lib Dems’ Christine Jardine in the House of Commons during Health Questions.
The MP for Edinburgh West said studies show living within 75 metres of a major road as a child creates a 29% increased risk of contracting lifetime asthma.
Ms Jardine asked: “Given that there are also 2,000 nurseries in this country close to dangerous high levels of polluted roads, what action can the minister assure is being taken along with her counterparts in Scotland and Defra to tackle this on a UK scale?”
Ms Doyle-Price explained the Government’s clean air strategy, led by Environment Secretary Michael Gove, including measures to reduce overall levels of pollutants, take cars off the road and “tackle wood-burning fires”.
She added: “But also, we need to be much more vigilant in advising the public of the risks to this, and including actually how they uses their cars.
“The time was when I went to school I used to walk there, too often we see parents dropping their kids off with idling engines that cause pollution.”
Labour’s Barry Sheerman (Huddersfield) called the response “warm words”, saying the Defra plans “are to tackle the poisonous air that our children are breathing, pregnant women are breathing, by 2040”, adding: “The fact is that children are being poisoned now, get on with it!”
The minister replied: “I can assure him we are working very closely with Defra, but ultimately we do need to encourage the public to change its behaviour, and we need to have much more open debate about the consequences of bad air.”
JD-P is a sodding hypocrite. She has a go at parents who drive their kids to school for damaging air quality but she supports the building of the Lower Thames Crossing that will have an enormous negative effect on the air quality in Thurrock.
I don’t get JDP I thought the Tories wanted to scrap the environmental standards after brexit. Even the US wants that in the America First trade deal.
She better speak to Fox/Gove they will tell her all about it.
Catching the Bus – Well you can’t blame JD-P from getting confused because Theresa Mayhem hasn’t had a chance to tell her what to think lately as she’s been too busy screwing up Brexit.
Parents living within a mile of any school should be banned from driving to school. Hit them with a £1000 fine for each violation and we will start to see a much needed change.