PRESS RELEASE
POLLUTION-MASK PROTEST AND DIE-IN AT DEPARTMENT FOR TRANSPORT
HORSEFERRY ROAD TO BE BLOCKED WITH TRANSPORT POLLUTION PROTESTERS, BIKES, TEDDY BEARS AND DOLLS WITH POLLUTION MASKS.
TOMBSTONE MARKING 240,000 DEAD FROM POLLUTION, SINCE TORY GOVERNMENT TOOK POWER IN 2010, TO BE PLACED IN FRONT OF MINISTER’S HQ
When: Wednesday, April 27th 5pm to 6.30pm
Where: Department for Transport HQ, Horseferry Road, London, SW1
What:
Stop Killing Cyclists are staging a Pollution-masked protest and Die-In outside the Department for Transport’s HQ, protesting against the UK’s horrific pollution death toll of 40,000 people every year, the enormous £20 billion annual cost to NHS and the government actions worsening the crisis.
The protest demands from government include:
1/ Banning private cars when pollution levels exceed EU safety levels.
2/ Investment of £15 billion in national cycling and walking infrastructure, over next 5 years.
3/ Banning diesel vehicles from city centres within 5 years and all fossil fuel vehicles within 10 years.
The protest welcomes pedestrians, parents, elderly, motorists, taxi/bus drivers, children, asthmatics etc., as pollution is poisoning all sections of society.
Stop Killing Cyclists Co-founder Donnachadh McCarthy said: “Enough is enough. It is time for the government to stop doing the lethally polluting motor industry lobbyists dictates and to instead tackle the horrifically dangerous levels of transport pollution on Britain’s roads now.”
He added: “It is totally unacceptable that millions of children are being raised by roads that are causing epidemic levels of asthma and stunting children’s lungs for life.
We need an immediate massive programme of cycle-route building and the elimination of lethal fossil-fuel vehicles from our streets.” End.
Press contact: Donnachadh McCarthy 07947 884299
Event Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/events/1124784950872843/
Notes to editors:
1. Stop Killing Cyclists is the grassroots campaign set up after horrific killing of 6 cyclists within a month in November 2013.
2. Programme:
5pm: Starts with installation of Tombstone. Saxophone player plays pollution protest music.
5.30pm: Rally with speakers including mother with asthmatic child and Medical Professor from UCL.
6pm-6.15pm. Pollution masked protesters lie on the road with masked teddy-bears and dolls representing the kids suffering stunted lungs and asthma.
6.15 pm: Final speaker.
6.30pm: End.
3. Full list of protest demands:
1. Fair funding for cycling: * Invest £15 billion in a National Segregated Cycle Network over the next 5 years. (Dutch £24 per person x 64 million (UK pop) x 2 to start catching up on 40 years of failure to invest).
* Invest 10% of TfL Budget by 2020 in safer cycling infrastructure and a similar investment in all major English cities.
2. Ban all non-zero emission private cars from cities on days where pollution levels are predicted to rise above EU safety levels.
3. Ban all diesel powered vehicles in city centres within 5 years.
4. Ban all fossil-fuel powered vehicles within city centres within 10 years.
5. Instigate a programme of regular car-free days in England’s major cities, along the model of Paris.
6. Stop the Killing of children – set up a national multi-billion-pound programme to convert residential communities across Britain into living-street Home Zones with an end to dangerous polluting through-routes.
7. Stop the Killing of pedestrians – establish a national programme to fund pedestrianizing/cyclisation of our city, borough and town centres, including the nation’s high-street – Oxford Street.
8. Allow city councils and TfL to limit the total number of private hire vehicles in their cities and promote the usage of zero emissions pedicabs with legal pedicab stands etc.
4. List of Government Actions worsening the horrific pollution death toll have included:
DfT released proposals to close down local street pollution monitoring
UK government lobbied EU to weaken pollution testing standards after VW scandal
Despite taxi numbers in London soaring above 100,000, government refusing to allow TfL to regulate taxi numbers in London.
Osborne slashed the already miniscule funding for cycling investment to a tiny pathetic 6% of what Dutch are spending, whilst allocating billions more to road-building.
Osborne has cut fuel duty at every single budget despite oil prices having fallen by over a third since 2012.
Government banned use of camera vehicles by local councils to enforce parking restrictions.
They refused to reduce speed limits to 60 mph on M1 and M3 help reduce frequency of EU pollution levels being breached.
They have proposed raising speed limit on motorways to 80 mph
UK government has been breaking EU road pollution law safety limits since 2010
Government found guilty of breaking EU pollution directive by UK Supreme Court in 2015
Government plans for London to continue to break EU pollution limits until 2025
Government plans for other major UK cities to continue to break EU pollution limits until 2030 e.g. Birmingham & Leeds
Government lobbied EU to dilute road pollution laws that it is breaking
Chancellor extended first MOT requirement from 3 to 4 years., thus enabling faulty polluting vehicles to be undetected on the roads for yet another year.
5. Full 2016 Royal College of Physicians report on transport pollution death statistics and £20 billion cost to NHS (16% of total cost!) is here:
https://www.rcplondon.ac.uk/projects/outputs/every-breath-we-take-lifelong-impact-air-pollution?token=EAp84pJk