Lloyd Evans Lloyd Evans

Is Sadiq Khan really taking air pollution seriously?

(Photo: Getty)

London is killing us. That’s the conclusion of Sadiq Khan’s alarming new book, Breathe: Tackling the Climate Emergency, which he publicised last night at a 90-minute event held in the Royal Festival Hall.  

The sales pitch for Khan’s book was disturbed by hecklers and protestors who blew whistles and shouted constant abuse at the mayor. ‘F*** off, Joseph Goebbels, you c***,’ was a typical insult.  

Khan ignored the protests as he introduced himself at the podium and read out a page from his book. He seems perfectly accustomed to being screamed at in public by the electorate. A hapless gang of stewards tried to curb the disruptions and they succeeded in yanking a few hecklers out of the building, but many more lurked in the semi-darkness and continued to yell and shout intermittently. 

Khan seems perfectly accustomed to being screamed at in public by the electorate

James O’Brien, the LBC host, joined the mayor on stage to discuss pollution which Khan calls ‘the invisible killer that we all breathe every day.’ As the protests continued, O’Brien talked tough and threatened to remove anyone whose heckling displeased him. In fact this proved impossible and the bawling continued throughout the evening. 

Khan’s campaign against pollution began in 2014 while he was training for the London marathon. He admitted this was a stunt designed to strengthen his ties with the Evening Standard whose support he needed during his campaign for the mayoralty two years later. Taking exercise for the marathon damaged Khan’s health and he was diagnosed with asthma, aged 43. 

As mayor he sought out new ways to tackle air pollution and he met the mother of a nine-year-old, Ella Kissi-Debrah, who died from an asthma attack on February 15, 2013. Ella and her mother lived next to a busy road and Khan suspected that car fumes had caused her death.

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