Drawing on the Sadiq Khan ‘who-could-possibly-argue-against-clean-air?’ playbook, DEFRA has launched a very low-profile consultation titled ‘Draft air quality strategy‘. In keeping with the increasingly common tactic among those that govern us of limiting dissenting voices, this consultation opened on April 11th and will close on… April 21st!
Why should this concern us? Because the consultation document talks about the consequences of ammonia and oxides of nitrogen in the context of their “significant impacts for the natural environment and biodiversity”. This is naturally ringing alarm bells in Britain’s farming community as it feels chillingly close to a replay of the Dutch Government’s proposal to cut nitrogen emissions from farming by 50% by 2030, which led to a massive backlash from farmers whose livelihoods were being threatened, and a political earthquake.
The consultation goes on to explain that, “Depending on the local circumstances (and in light of any relevant national or local policies), ammonia emissions may be a material planning consideration for planning applications”. So, if farmers were not already facing enough opposition from local authorities, they could now be blackmailed into reducing ammonia emissions or see planning applications refused. Season 3 of Clarkson’s Farm could be entertaining. In case the role to be played by local authorities in oppressing farmers is not clear enough, the document states:
Agriculture is the largest source of ammonia and contributes to PM2.5 through chemical reactions in the atmosphere. While not having direct regulatory powers over agriculture, local authorities should exercise their wider functions to minimise emissions from this source.
PM2.5 is the term favoured by DEFRA for fine particulate matter. It is regarded as the air pollutant that causes the most harm to human health. Reducing it is pivotal to the consultation. In DEFRA’s words:
The air quality strategy (AQS) sets out the actions the Government expects local authorities in England to take in support of achieving our long-term air quality goals, including our ambitious new PM2.5 targets.
If the ambitious new PM2.5 targets slipped under your radar, the scientific basis for them can be found in a separate DEFRA document here titled ‘Air quality PM2.5 targets – Detailed evidence report’. This documents the supposed ‘wealth of evidence’ concerning the harm wrought by fine particulate matter (including modelling by Imperial College London), and referring, inevitably, to the “Government’s response to the coroner’s Prevention of Future Deaths Report following the inquest into the death of Ella Adoo-Kissi-Debrah”. Farmers could be forgiven for thinking that Sadiq Khan is now running agriculture policy.
One does not have to don one’s tinfoil hat to feel alarmed at this turn of events. Anyone campaigning against the ULEZ extension in London is already aware of the contempt Sadiq Khan has shown towards his own consultation process. Here is another consultation, this time from a central Government department, allowing only 10 days for responses and launching during local election campaigns.
Ian Price is a Business Psychologist. Find him on Twitter.
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