A Breath of Fresh Air – Model Motion

Background

Air pollution is causing the premature deaths of 40,000+ UK citizens at an economic cost of £54 billion.

Responding to the UK’s deadly air pollution crisis, SERA launched its ‘A Breath of Fresh Air’ campaign in July 2016. The campaign calls for a new Clean Air Act for the 21st century, 60 years after the first Clean Air Act was passed.

As part of our campaign we have produced the following model motion for Constituency Labour Parties. The motion notes the need to tackle the deadly air we breathe today, and concludes that we need a new Clean Air Act for the 21st Century.

Proposed Motion

This CLP notes:

• Air pollution is causing the premature deaths of more than 40,000 citizens and an economic cost of £54 billion.
• It is the number one cause of death from environmental impacts.
• Air pollution affects the poorest the hardest as they often live near main roads.
• In the 1950s, as well as giving councils the powers to establish smoke control zones, the Clean Air Act also championed firm action including offering grants so householders could convert their coal-burning fires to smokeless fuel.
• The UK Government has been taken to the European Court by Client Earth over its failure to act on illegal air pollution levels and the Government has lost its case which means it must now act.
• However, following the European Referendum there is a question mark against these EU protections and enforcement mechanisms and so specific action must be taken now.
• This is why a new Clean Air Act is needed and this will become ever more critical to avoid the loss of lives through air pollution. 

This CLP therefore concludes:

We need the same level of commitment to saving people’s lives today, in the form of a new Clean Air Act, to tackle the consequences of air pollution on public health within the XXXXX constituency and across the country.

This CLP therefore:

• Calls on the Labour Party at national level to press for the Government to produce a Clean Air Act for the 21^st Century.
• Further calls on the Parliamentary Party to help protect the environmental legislation enacted by the European Union by ensuring future UK legislation is at least in parity with, if not greater than, existing European Union environmental legislation on air pollution.
• Calls upon our MP to support Geraint Davies, Labour MP for Swansea West, with his Private Members Bill concerning Air Quality