Andy Burnham urged to order inquiry into unequal health impacts of air pollution

A group of 150 scientists, MPs and activists, among them the climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, has called on the prime minister, Andy Burnham, to establish a national public inquiry into the uneven health toll of air pollution. The signatories argue that the UK has no dedicated mechanism for tackling the health inequalities linked to dirty air, according to the Guardian. Their letter points to research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies finding that poorer areas of England consistently record higher pollution levels than wealthier ones.

The same IFS analysis found that minority-ethnic populations were exposed to pollution roughly 6% higher than levels experienced by white populations. Air pollution is associated with heart disease, strokes, cancer, asthma and impaired lung development in children, yet the letter says no formal process exists to address those disparities. Traffic emissions are described as the leading threat to clean air, with petrol and diesel vehicles releasing a mix of toxic pollutants.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah, whose nine-year-old daughter became the first person in the UK to have air pollution named on their death certificate, said years of inaction across all major political parties had left the population exposed to illegal levels of emissions. Meanwhile, government data indicates that in 2025 parts of London, Glasgow and Bristol still breached legal pollution limits, even as cities such as London have made broader gains. Measures including London's ultra-low emission zone have been credited with improving air quality, with children's lungs found to grow larger and stronger as a result.

New figures obtained through freedom of information requests by the campaign group Mums for Lungs show that in 11 English cities and areas, including London, Greater Manchester and Birmingham, more than 200,000 children were taken to hospital with breathing difficulties in 2025. Younger children were worst affected, with over 120,000 babies and toddlers admitted to A&E or hospital. In Manchester alone, admissions of babies and toddlers climbed from 653 in 2023 to 1,072 in 2025.

Mums for Lungs said Burnham's 2023 decision, when he was mayor of Greater Manchester, to abandon plans for a clean air zone raises questions about whether enough is being done to reduce pollution. The group's founder, Jemima Hartshorn, described the situation as an air pollution emergency, saying every statistic represents a child struggling to breathe and a family seeking help. She argued that dirty air should not be treated as inevitable or acceptable.

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said air quality is continuing to improve over the longer term and that, while most standards are being met, further action is needed to protect communities. The department pointed to new targets intended to cut harmful particle exposure by nearly a third by 2030, adding that work with local authorities on clean air plans and monitoring would sustain progress.