• DIRTY air isn’t just unpleasant to breathe, it’s a killer. Breathing London’s air is the equivalent in terms of breathing in NOx of smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

Long-term exposure to NO2 and the particulate matter that comes off tyres and out of the exhaust pipe can bring about and exacerbate asthma, bronchitis and heart conditions. There is also growing evidence to show that dirty air can impact on people’s mental health.

I’ve brought up two children in Camden and these facts terrify me. I want better for them, and everyone’s children.

The growing popularity of electric cars will help, and Camden Labour have pledged to double the number of electric car charging points in Camden, but electric cars alone will not solve the problem.

A dedicated council team has been set up to tackle engine-idling. But this is just the start of the firm action that Camden Labour is committed to: we will invest £350,000 won from the mayor to support a new School Low Emission Neighbourhood in nearby NW3, which will have knock-on benefits for West Hampstead.

Encouraging more schools to sign up to the Mayor of London’s STARS programme will also make a big difference in encouraging children and parents to travel to school differently and more healthily.

Camden is the first council in the UK to adopt World Health Organisation standards on air quality. Reaching these standards will be a challenge but, if elected, I look forward to helping drive this positive change on Camden Council.

A passion I have long held is to get more people cycling and get myself cycling more again! Nearly 50 per cent of NO2 pollution in Camden comes from vehicles travelling along our roads.

We need to make it easier for people to own a bike, and so we need more on-street secure cycle hangars (residents can request these directly to the council).

We can reach the ambitious WHO standards by 2030, but only if we all work together as one borough to do so. A vote for Labour on May 3 is a vote for a commitment to cleaner air for us and for our children.

NAZMA RAHMAN
Labour candidate for West Hampstead ward