Britain has staved off the threat of £300m fines over air pollution in London. The European commission has agreed to give the UK a time extension to meet a key air quality directive, subject to short-term action taken by the UK.

Critics point out the extension offers only a temporary reprieve for the UK and should serve as a "big wake-up call" to Boris Johnson, the London mayor, and the government.

The commission’s environment commissioner, Janez Potocnik, said on Friday morning that the extension on meeting limit values for PM10s – dangerous airborne particles that contribute to thousands of premature deaths in the capital each year – has been granted until 11 June.

But that is on the condition that Boris Johnson’s air quality strategy is revised by June and submitted to the commission for scrutiny by November this year.

London is the only region still in breach of the directive on limit values for PM10s, six years after the standard was first agreed in Europe.

Potocnik said short-term measures will have to be introduced to control "or, where necessary, suspend activities", which contribute to the risk of the limit values being exceeded.

"Air pollution from PM10 has serious impacts on human health. That is why EU legislation sets strict standards. The commission expects member states to clearly demonstrate that they are doing their utmost, in the interests of their citizens, to comply with the standards in the shortest possible time."

Johnson, the Conservative mayor, published his third and final draft of his air quality strategy for the capital in December in the firm belief that it would meet the limit values for PM10s by 2011, despite critics who claimed the plan was "not fit for purpose".

Johnson published figures showing the health impact of poor air quality, which in 2008 contributed to 4,300 premature deaths.

Simon Birkett, the founder and director of Clean Air in London, said: "The mayor has stumbled and fallen after backward steps on air quality. This is a big wake-up call to the mayor and the so-called ‘greenest government’ in the run-up to the London 2012 Olympics."

He added: "Clean Air in London hails the European commission’s temporary and conditional time extension as an ideal mechanism to maximise pressure on the UK to comply with health-based laws. It requires urgent air quality action in London and ‘freezes’ the current enforcement process."

The commission began legal proceedings against the UK in January 2009 for failing to meet air quality standards that came into effect at the end of 2004.

The UK government turned down a first request for an exemption in December 2009 on the grounds that insufficient information had been provided to allow the commission to assess whether the limit values for PM10s could be met by the deadline.

It issued the UK government with a second and final written warning last June to clean up London’s air or be taken to the European court of justice and face fines of up to £300m.

Just days before losing power, the Labour government reapplied for a time extension, granted on Friday.

The decision states that the government’s re-submission "satisfies the conditions set in the directive", with the caveat of short-term measures being put in place.

"It is up to the UK to decide which specific actions to introduce," the commission says. "These could include measures in relation to traffic, construction work, ships at berth and the use of industrial plants or products and domestic heating. London’s air quality plan will need to be revised by 11 June 2011 to include the short-term measures and submitted to the commission."

City hall claims the commission has not seen the full range of measures drawn up because the government submitted its application in May 2010.

A spokeswoman for the mayor said: "This is a welcome recognition of the serious steps that the mayor has taken to reduce PM10 pollution in order to confront the legacy of poor air quality he inherited and that led to this issue being taken to the European commission in the first place.

"We look forward to working with the government to further reassure the commission, and more importantly people in London, that we have robust, sensible and proportionate measures in place to reduce pollution levels ensuring that the capital is as healthy and clean as possible."

The decision gives the UK only breathing space, since the commission has not withdrawn the previous written warnings and can take the government to court if it fails to reduce pollution this year in a fast-track process that could lead to an estimated £300m fine.

Darren Johnson, a Green party member of the London assembly, said: "The reason the European commission have taken the unprecedented step of requiring a set of emergency plans to be drawn up is that they simply don’t trust the UK government and mayor to protect the health of Londoners.

"This country negotiated and agreed these limits on pollution over a decade ago, but politicians at all levels of government have subsequently failed to act. By refusing to withdraw the written warnings the commission has shown that it is prepared to take a tough stance on a problem."

Johnson was heavily criticised by opposition parties for unravelling environment policies put in place by his predecessor, Ken Livingstone, such as his decision to delay by 15 months the introduction of phase three of the Low Emission Zone (Lez), which fines the most polluting vans, and the scrapping of the western extension of the congestion charge zone last Christmas.

But some have sympathy for his claim that the previous Labour government failed to do enough to ensure London was in compliance with air quality directives in the first place.

Murad Qureshi, Labour’s environment spokesman on the London Assembly, said: "If Boris Johnson hadn’t halved the size of the congestion charge zone, cancelled taxi inspections and suspended fines for the most polluting vehicles, London and Britain would be in a much healthier state today. Dirty vans and minibuses would have been off our roads by now but for the actions of this mayor. He has taken London backwards in the fight to improve the city’s air and should take urgent action now to put this right."

Mike Tuffrey, the Liberal Democrat London Assembly environment spokesperson, said: "The case for urgent action on London’s appalling air quality never rested on the views of the EU commission. Londoners’ health is at grave risk and that alone is the reason action [is needed] to tackle air pollution. We need a Clean Air Zone for central London, as cities like Berlin do, and rapid action to clean up buses and taxis. Now more than ever the mayor must act."

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/mar/11/britain-300m-fine-london-air-pollution

I was able to show some solidarity with the Arab awakening during a recent trip to Tunisia, when it all started. It appears young Arabs now aspire to the symbolism of Mohammed Bouazizi, a Tunisian graduate fruit seller whose produce was confiscated because he lacked the correct permit. His attempted suicide (he has since died) set off protests over unemployment across North Africa.

Whether it’s a young Egyptian who occupies Tahrir Square or a young Libyan defying the madness of Muammar Gaddafi, their actions are all essentially taken in the name of their own liberation.

Yet while they have successfully managed to eliminate the physical dictators such as Ben Ali in Tunisia and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt, we have yet to see the “dictatorships” removed.

In Egypt, the military council is still in charge. It has made changes to the government and in the make up of the cabinet in order to appease the protesters. The military council has been running the country since February 11 and will do so for six months or until the end of parliamentary and presidential elections.

Despite an announcement that a referendum on proposed constitutional reform will be held on March 19, the military have yet to remove the emergency law sand state they will not remove them until the streets finally clear. So the very laws that fuelled the protests are still in place.

In Tunisia, the new administration has been given just two months to implement reforms before March 15 to pave the way for elections in July.

After suffering under a presidential dictatorship and de facto one-party rule, most leftist and Islamists are yearning for a parliamentary system. They want power to be handed over to a caretaker team of independent technocrats.

They also want the National Council for the Defence of the Revolution to be officially  recognised and given the right to monitor the new government pending elections.

This Arab awakening won’t go away and may be extended to other parts of the Middle East – to Arab monarchies such as Saudi Arabia. The best thing Britain can do is stay out – a warning David Cameron would do well to heed.

Click here to view full article

Local London Assembly member, Murad Qureshi, has accused Mayor Boris Johnson of taking his eye off the ball in the City of Westminster as new figures show bus related crime has risen 2.5 per cent.

The Mayor said last week crime on buses is down 30 per cent in London, although the rate is falling much slower than before he was elected.

The latest figures from Transport for London reveal that in some boroughs bus-related crime is on the up. Comparing data from October to December 2009/10 with the same period this year shows bus-related crime in Westminster has risen 2.5 per cent.

Across London, the number of drug and sexual offences, fraud, forgery and fare evasion has increased since Boris Johnson became Mayor in 2008.

Local London Assembly member Murad said:

"A safe and reliable public transport network is crucial to this city. Boris Johnson made a lot of promises and a lot of claims about crime, especially bus-related crime, so it’s worrying that it looks like he’s taken his off the ball."

"The truth is the number of sexual offences reported on buses has increased at a time when the Mayor is closing lots of ticket offices earlier and cutting the number of police."

While crime has fallen across London in the last two years, rate of decrease has slowed down significantly since Boris Johnson was elected.

Table on p.33 of the Mayor’s transport crime strategy, The Right Direction (February 2011)

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi is a Londonwide Assembly member and a former Councillor in the City of Westminster

A press release from the Mayor’s office on 21 February claimed overall crime has fallen by 30 per cent.

Transport for London’s latest bus crime statistics can found on p.12 here

Mayor of London’s The Right Direction can be found here.

For further information please contact Alison Marcroft on 0207 983 4363

The Green Party’s Darren Johnson, Labour’s Murad Qureshi and Liberal Democrat Mike Tuffrey criticised the Mayor for blasting the Alternative Vote system, a variant of which is used to elect the Mayor of London.

 London-wide Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said:

‘London uses a variant of the Alternative Vote to choose its Mayor. If AV is good enough to elect our Mayor then why not our MPs?’

Darren Johnson AM added:

‘The Mayor was elected using a system which gives voters a stronger voice in choosing their elected representatives. London has embraced this system- I urge Boris to think again.’

Liberal Democrat Mike Tuffrey AM said:

‘Voting Yes on May 5th will ensure that MPs will have to work harder in their communities and force them to appeal to a wider section of the electorate.’

Yes to Fairer Votes spokesperson Jonathan Bartley commented:

‘Surely the Mayor wouldn’t deny that having to appeal to more voters has made him work harder. Why doesn’t he want MPs to do the same?’

ENDS

Notes:

1. Under Britain’s current voting system: First Past the Post, if voters don’t believe their preferred candidate stands a real chance of winning, they are often forced to vote tactically.
2. The Alternative Vote, which will allow voters to rank candidates in order of our preference, means voters can choose their favourite candidate, knowing their vote can go further.
3. YES! to Fairer Votes is the campaign for a ‘Yes Vote’ in the coming referendum on introducing the Alternative Vote (AV) for elections to the House of Commons. Our staff and supporters come from all walks of life, from all parts of the United Kingdom, from all parties and none. We are ready to make the case for a fairer system that offers a better deal for voters.  

The European Commission this morning ruled that Britain could delay being hit with a potential �300m fine for its poor air quality by introducing "short term measures" to prevent legal particulate limits being breached in London or by "suspending activities" which contribute to the problem. 

The Commission ruled that an "action plan" should be in place for London by June this year and a more comprehensive plan by November.

Air quality in London is the worst in Europe and according to Boris Johnson contributes to the early deaths of more than 4,000 people in the city.

Murad Qureshi, Labour’s environment spokesman on the London Assembly, said

"If Boris Johnson hadn’t halved the size of the congestion charge zone, cancelled taxi inspections and suspended fines for the most polluting vehicles, London and Britain would be in a much healthier state today. Dirty vans and minibuses would have been off our roads by now but for the actions of this Mayor. He has taken London backwards in the fight to improve the city’s air and should take urgent action now to put this right."

In February 2009 Boris Johnson suspended the next phase of London’s Low Emission Zone. The third phase was due to come into force last October and would have meant the most polluting vans and minibuses would be charged �100 a day to drive into Greater London.

In January 2011 Boris Johnson halved the size of the congestion charge zone. Just half the income from the western extension of the zone would have raised enough money to pay for the greening of London’s polluting vans and minibuses

Research shows that twenty times more people are killed by London’s poor air than in road traffic accidents 

Murad Qureshi’s response to the Mayor’s draft air quality strategy included proposals for:

Targeted "low emission zones" to cut traffic in pollution hot-spots

Improved information for Londoners on local air quality levels – via text message alerts, for example

The introduction of a vehicle retrofitting subsidy scheme

Improved transport to Heathrow airport as new figures show three-quarters of toxic nitrogen oxide pollution in the local area could be caused by road vehicles

Ends

Notes 

There were 184 fatalities caused by road traffic collisions during 2009 (http://bit.ly/94fGRH). An Institute of Occupational Medicine report commissioned by the Mayor and published in June 2009 estimated that 4,267 deaths in London could be attributed to the city’s air quality (http://bit.ly/aPu8GF)

EU Commission press release

http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/11/285&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

For further information please contact Alison Marcroft on 020 7983 4363

Labour London Assembly Member Murad Qureshi said

The latest Transport for London (TfL) figures show:

• Station closures are up on the District line by a staggering 1250%
• Delays are up by 300% on the Jubilee line
• The were fewer trains in service on every Underground line across the network in November / December than a year earlier
• There were more delays towards the end of last year on the Central, District, Jubilee and Victoria lines than in the same period the year before

Murad added: "It’s all very well refurbishing the stations & installing shiny new trains, but unless & until the signals are sorted out we’ll never get a reliable Tube service in West London."

Ends.

Notes

Murad Qureshi is a London-wide Assembly Member and is Vice Chair of the Assembly’s Environment Committee.

TFL publishes monthly Tube figures online. They are available at: 

www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/modesoftransport/londonunderground/1592.aspx:

Answers to Mayor’s Questions 23 February 2011

http://mqt.london.gov.uk/mqt/public/question.do?http://mqt.london.gov.uk/mqt/public/question.do?

For further information please contact Alison Marcroft on 020 7983 4363

At this weeks Audit Committee of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, otherwise referred to as LFEPA, we were given an update on the expenses for all its members and officers.  Not surprisingly again it was the Chairman’s expenses that stood out the most, rolling in at £2,763.61 for this  financial year to date.  As his expenses once again stand out as by far the highest, what is also eye catching is that he appears to be the only user of a cab firm based in Barnet called GLH and which operates a standard minumum charge so even short journeys cost London taxpayers more than other firms.  I joked with a fellow Assembly Member who lives in the South East of town, that he and I were  highly unlikely to use them given they are based in Barnet.  This probably cuts across the board for all other members.  So, it seems that the Chairman may in effect be enjoying the benefit of his own private cab service, all at the public expense of Londoners.

The Mayor of London was quick to lap up the publicity surrounding the recent launch of the Chinese Business Association (CBA) set up by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) with his “backing”.  The Mayor promised to do all he can “to ensure this city retained its competitive edge…” yet, ironically, he is now busy closing down his office in Shanghai! This illustrates well the short-sightedness of public expenditure cuts in the UK in response to the fragile world economy, coming also on the back of the closure of its Indian offices last year.

The last Mayor had set-up his stall globally by promoting London to the emerging economies in Brazil, Russia, India and China, in recognition of their growing economic stature. Now, with the proposed closures and particularly with the dramatic move towards Asia in the world economy, London will undoubtedly be the loser.  Without a local presence in these powerful emerging markets, we will miss out on opportunities to do business, for example by promoting tourism and study in our capital as well as direct foreign investment, which has seen a rapid growth in the last two decades.  Surely, whilst China is booming, London should be looking to “lasso” the rampaging tiger and secure some traction for the capital.

 The launch of the CBA was precipitated by the growing influence of China.  Research by the LCCI, revealed that about 400 Chinese-owned companies operated in London and the South East.  At the launch, the Mayor made reference to the increased investment we’d seen from China in recent years with the opening of new offices in the heart of the City and the promise of telecoms and technology companies arriving too.  So why withdraw from a city which promises so much and which has so much potential?  It seems that the Mayor may be relying on the newly established CBA to forge links between its members and “business opportunities London has to offer”. But isn’t the Mayor missing an obvious trick here?  What about the business opportunities in China?  It is of course welcome and reassuring that the CBA will look out for opportunities in the UK market but equally, isn’t just as likely (if not more so), that a UK presence in China would be just as well placed to look out for new opportunities in the Chinese market? 

 The soon to be defunct London Development Agency (LDA) which is the Mayor’s agency responsible for driving London’s sustainable economic growth currently operates 2 overseas offices in Beijing and Shanghai and employs 3 members of staff in these cities.   Following a review, the LDA has commenced a close-down of its operations in Shanghai.  The total budget for the LDA’s overseas offices in 2010/11 is £250,000. In 2011/12 the planning budget is £100,000, making a total saving of closing these offices £150,000.  Surely, this would have been a relatively small price to pay for keeping a front row seat in some of the major economic capitals of the world?  For example, without the Mayor’s representation in China over recent years, we would have lost at least 7 direct inward investment leads and 4 trade missions including the opportunity to promote London in at least 28 key events since November 2009. Not forgetting his expenditure of almost £2million at the Shanghai Expo last year to promote London as the world’s best city in which to invest, study and visit.

 The Mayor set up a review of the GLA’s overseas offices in 2008 and it reported its findings in January of the following year. Headed by the Mayor’s then deputy Ian Clement, the review concluded that there was no case for closing these offices finding that “the rationale for London to have offices in key emerging markets is fundamentally sound” and that they “do play an important role in promoting London’s interest, from supporting the capital’s businesses to enhancing the image of our city around the world.”

 In a submission to the GLA review, the London Chamber of Commerce stated;

 “Closing the offices in India and China as part of a cost-cutting exercise would be short-sighted and send entirely the wrong signals to potential investors and importers in two of London’s most important potential markets. The GLA may save £1 million, but it is London’s firms that may ultimately end up paying a much higher price. If the mayor is not out there promoting London, someone else will be promoting New York, Paris and Sydney instead.”

 Past warnings of this clarity make uncomfortable reading while it’s recently emerged that only 7 per cent of UK exports go to China, India and Brazil. These are the economies seen as the locomotive of global growth. Developing economies like China’s have grown in global importance due to their having escaped the worst consequences of the recession. It also illustrated the foresight of the previous Mayor’s, Ken Livingstone regime which established these hubs based upon an economic health warning that without them, we would suffer lost opportunities.

 Last year, David Cameron famously said that “we do more trade with Ireland than with China, Brazil, India and Russia combined” In contrast, last week, he announced that the UK is “open for business” This is a juxtaposition which will be made worse by the Mayor’s shortsighted doggedness to castrate his offices abroad which have, based upon his own figures paid for themselves many times over in terms of the business and employment prospects they have generated.  China is the second largest economy in the world, why then would the Mayor not want to help drive the London economy by retaining a direct presence in Shanghai itself, its financial and commerical capital?  For me, the sign on this London Mayor’s shop window is not a big clear “Open” for business, but more akin to, “Out for lunch, back soon or perhaps when it’s a bit too late……”.

Local London Assembly member, Murad Qureshi has accused Mayor of London Boris Johnson of making misleading claims about police numbers. 

Outlining his budget proposals two weeks ago the Mayor said, "we�re able to deploy another 500-odd frontline officers and actually increase the number of warranted officers at a time of huge budget cuts across the country" (BBC Radio 4, World at One, 10 February).

But official police figures show that under Boris Johnson the number of officers will have fallen from a high of 33,258 in February 2010 to 32,510 in 2012 – a cut of 748.

And in January the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) predicted officer numbers falling to 31,800 after 2012 – over 1,000 fewer than the number forecast (32,918) before Boris Johnson was elected in 2008 and almost 1,500 fewer than the 2010 peak.

Local London Assembly member Murad said: "Only Boris Johnson could claim police numbers are going up when he’s actually cutting them. The spin is clear to see from the Met’s own figures.

"The fact is this mayor inherited a budget from his predecessor which paid for 1,000 extra officers. But under Boris Johnson and this government numbers will go down and the progress we have made in West Central tackling crime and reducing the fear of crime could well now be reversed."

Boris Johnson’s �13.6 billion budget was approved at a London Assembly meeting on Wednesday 23 February at City Hall.

Ends

Notes

Murad Qureshi is a London wide Labour Assembly member and a former councillor in Westminster

Full agenda papers for the meeting.

The budget setting process is set out in Schedule 6 of the GLA Act 1999 (as amended). The meeting can also be viewed via webcast.

A press release from the Mayor’s office on 10 February claimed London could be "the only force in the country to increase numbers of uniformed police officers". Figures from the MPA show numbers will have fallen by the 2012 election.

Police officer figures above have been taken from MPA committee papers, the MPA’s 2008 business plan and 2011 MPA budget papers.

Crossrail development @ Tottenham Court Road, from Centre Point

At today’s Budget Meeting at City Hall, we discussed new funding mechanisms for infrastructure investment and in particular assessing the potential of the Community Infrastructure Levy(CIL) and Tax Increment Financing(TIF). Yes it was that stimulating!

Nonetheless is was of  interest in respect to Crossrail funding as it has a CIL charging schedule which would raise £ 300 million of the funding required between 2012/19.  My fellow Assembly Members(AM) were naturally concerned with how the various contributions will fall on their various local authorities and what benefit would be derived for their residents.

After a recent visit site of Crossrail at Tottenham Court Road, l could not but think that not enough has been done to extract the added value along the Crossrail line in central London. This was particularly apparent from the vantage of Centre point.  W e also well know that suddenly developments like the “Cucumber” have emerged in locations like Paddington when previously we haven’t known of such spectacular schemes on very tight sites in a location which hadn’t previously generated that much interest.

This could of course either reduce or add to the CIF charge required elsewhere and add to the community benefit more locally but that would of course need a more interventing Mayor which we sadly don’t have at the moment.