The ULEZ: misinformation for political gain

In the middle of all the sound and fury about the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election stands one simple truth. Air pollution is a killer, affecting all of the organs in our bodies for all of our, sometimes shortened, lives and costing the NHS billions; it must be reduced.

Set against the dire health effects of air pollution, it’s a strange quirk of politics that plans to expand the area covered by the Ultra Low Emission Zone to the whole of greater London has become a political football. But even writing out the words long-form rather than using its now increasingly maligned acronym – ULEZ – makes the whole thing feel less shrill. How has it come to this?