Sadiq Khan on Friday made a “full and unqualified apology” to the mother of a nine-year-old London girl who died because she lived near roads with illegal levels of toxic air.At an event at City Hall, the mayor said sorry to Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah for the loss of her daughter Ella in 2013.Despite not being mayor at the time, he said the Greater London Authority and Transport for London should have acted sooner to tackle pollution.Ella, who died on February 15, 2013, from a fatal asthma attack, was the first person in the world to have air pollution listed as a cause of death on her death certificate.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 So as the Mayor of London, on behalf of the Greater London Authority and our city, I offer
00:08 a full and unqualified apology for allowing Acton Sooner to tackle air pollution which
00:15 ultimately led to the tragic death of Ella Adu-Kissing-Denver.
00:23 In recent years, we've been sure that London is a world leader in reducing air pollution,
00:29 but it's clear that London's leaders and institutions could have done more and sooner
00:36 to address the dangerous toxic air.
00:39 And so to Ella's mother, Rosamund, her family, and all those who knew and loved Ella,
00:47 I simply say, sorry, you deserve so much better.
00:53 Well look, the second inquest into Ella's death was a landmark inquest and today's
00:59 an important day in the history of our city because, you know, I'm apologising on behalf
01:06 of the GLA because we know from the second inquest into Ella's death that national and
01:14 London leaders and institutions could have done more and that's why it's incredibly
01:18 important for us to step up and apologise.
01:21 It's not the time to score political points, but it does feel that the wrong mayor is apologising.
01:27 What doesn't matter about personalities, what we do know though is the evidence.
01:31 And the evidence from the Coran in the second inquest was quite clear.
01:36 We've seen expert after expert after expert talk about the links between air pollution,
01:42 asthma attacks and the loss, in this case, of Ella's life.
01:46 But the premature deaths that we know occur across the city, across the country and across the globe.
01:51 We also know from the testimony of Ella's mum, Rosamund, had she known in the days,
01:58 weeks, months, years preceding Ella's death that there was a link between air pollution
02:03 and Ella's health, she would have taken action.
02:06 We also know that a big reason for the air pollution was emissions from traffic.
02:12 It's quite clear from evidence in the UK and across the globe that no level of exposure
02:19 to air pollution is safe.
02:21 And one of the recommendations the Coran made was for there to be more public awareness
02:26 of this issue, but also steps taken to reduce air pollution and I've been trying to do both.
02:31 Lastly, in your book Breathe, you mention Ella's death quite a bit.
02:38 Is it fair to say that essentially her death and how it came about inspired you, Les?
02:45 I mean, the story of Ella's changed my life.
02:50 I mean, it's moving, it's heartbreaking, it makes me angry.
02:56 Rosamund's campaigning is a source of inspiration to me.
03:01 One of the things I try to do, and I've always tried to do, is look at the evidence,
03:06 the evidence that I've found, the evidence that I've found, the evidence that I've found
03:11 in my values, which policies are best at reducing air pollution.
03:15 And I've looked around the world and I've spoken to experts, I've spoken to scientists,
03:19 I've spoken to technicians in the transport industry.
03:23 The ULES is a policy that's reduced air pollution at levels not seen across the globe.
03:28 If anybody wants to come up with other policies, I'm always happy to look at those.
03:32 She's seen the levels of reduction in air pollution where she lives, and she makes the point,
03:38 and I say this to echo what she says, you know, had these policies been in place when Ella was around,
03:43 the question she asked herself, asked herself is, would Ella have lost her life?
03:48 [ Silence ]