MPs reject Peers' demand for tougher air pollution limit after south-London asthmatic girl's death
The girl's mother had described the Bill as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to improve air quality
A tougher legal air pollution limit has been stripped from the Environment Bill by MPs.
The proposal was put forward after it was ruled air pollution contributed to the death of nine-year-old Ella Adoo Kissi Debrah in south London - who suffered an asthma attack in 2013.
The coroner's report, following a second inquest which ruled that excessive air pollution contributed to her death, called for legally binding goals for dangerous pollutants that are in line with the World Health Organisation (WHO).
Responding to the coroner's report, Ella's mother Rosamund had called on the Government to act on the recommendations, warning "children are dying unnecessarily because the Government is not doing enough to combat air pollution''.
She had also described the Bill as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity" to improve air quality.
Peers amended the flagship legislation to set a target for curbing particulate matter (PM2.5) pollution by 2030 at the latest.
But MPs voted 307 to 185, majority 122, to disagree with the Lords amendment and remove the proposal from the Bill.
What happened during the debate?
During the debate, Conservative Neil Parish, who chairs the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, said setting an "ambitious" target would help "drive action to meet the Government's commitment to net-zero by 2050".
He added: "I support a binding commitment to publish a target after a full consultation, but I need to be clear that this is an urgent issue and I will continue to hold the Government to account.
"October 2022 must be the absolutely last point at which we put a proper target on reducing PM2.5 into law or lower."
On the other hand, Labour ministers criticised the proposed delay stressing there could be more people who die prematurely due to exposure to air pollution.
Shadow environment Labour minister Ruth Jones said the Government's approach to air quality has been "ruled unlawful multiple times".
She added: "The time for hot air from the Government benches is over and I would encourage all colleagues... to realise that this is the time to get a proper and comprehensive approach to cleaning our air in this Bill."
The Bill seeks to write environmental principles in UK law for the first time, following Brexit.
It runs the risk of becoming stuck in "ping-pong", where a piece of legislation moves between the two Houses until an agreement can be reached.
The Bill will now return to the Lords for further scrutiny.