8. Plaid Cymru Debate: Air Pollution

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:58 pm on 5 February 2020.

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Photo of David Lloyd David Lloyd Plaid Cymru 4:58, 5 February 2020

I accept the point. That's why I said 'premature deaths'—earlier than anticipated because you have a chronic lung condition and you add particulates and whatever on top of that, and off we go. 

So, we have increasing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; we have also the legacy of pneumoconiosis from the miners; silicosis from our quarry workers; asbestosis still around; we have increasing levels of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis—'idiopathic' is Latin for, 'We don't know the cause', I suspect it's going to turn out to be air pollution, largely caused by our cavalier attitude to air pollution over the generations; inhaled PM2.5 particles are killers; nitrogen dioxide is also a killer; and nanoparticles of plastics from rubber tyres can get absorbed into our blood system, into our circulatory system and heart. 

So, as I've said, I personally favour legislation. There's nothing like the back-up of the law to make sure that people act rather than having non-binding plans, however well-meaning. A clean air Act to enshrine in law World Health Organization air quality guidelines; a clean air Act to mandate Welsh Government to produce a statutory air quality strategy every five years; a clean air Act to provide a legal statutory duty on local authorities to monitor air pollution, to assess air pollution, to take air pollution seriously, to take action against it and to take seriously air pollution concerns in planning applications; and we need a clean air Act to introduce the right to breathe whereby local councils have to tell vulnerable groups when certain levels are breached, because you are likely to fall ill and you may die prematurely.

And so, finally, as everybody bleats that the health service costs are increasing amounts of money year on year, nobody believes in investing in changing behaviour to stop people getting ill in the first place. No, we just disparage the NHS for needing more money all of the time. We just slag off the NHS for hoovering up money when the health service has to tackle the problems that Governments should stop happening in the first place. The NHS has to pick up the pieces.

So, we have an obesity epidemic that causes increasing diabetes and increasing cancers; we don't legislate in schools for increased physical activity or ban advertising on junk foods. We could channel a Welsh sugar tax to this education agenda; we don't. But don't slag off health for having to deal with the consequences of inaction in other portfolio fields. And as regards air pollution, yes, legislate to form a clean air Act to tackle those increasing asthma rates, to tackle the suffering from COPD, those increasing levels of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, the damage to growing children's lungs, and, yes, those thousands of premature deaths caused by particulates and nitrogen dioxide. As Andrew R.T. Davies said, we no longer tolerate dirty water, we should no longer tolerate dirty air.

So, in closing, the Welsh Government has been tasked with reducing emissions in the quickest way possible after being found in breach of EU regulations two years ago. Sort it out now. There's a plan, there's a White Paper, and perhaps legislation in 18 months. The challenge is stark. The time is now. Diolch, Llywydd.