BORIS JOHNSON is a recent convert to the cause of improving London's poor air quality but his actions still do not match his words.
He is planning to scrap half of the congestion charge zone, rather than trying to make it work better for residents and businesses.
He has been forced to perform a U-turn on plans to charge the most polluting vans and minibuses for entering Greater London.
And he has abandoned completely plans to charge the most polluting gas guzzling vehicles more to drive into central London.
At the same time, he is cutting funding to the buses by a third and has just announced the biggest ever rise in public transport fares.
This is not the way to get people out of their cars and to tackle London's poor air quality, which causes asthma in children and kills between 3,000 and 10,000 people prematurely every year.
If Boris really wants to improve the air we breathe he should ensure we have high quality, affordable public transport and tackle the polluters.
Blaming the Government for London's air while at the same time refusing to take the tough decisions necessary to improve it is not the kind of leadership we need and is not going to help us breathe more easily.
MURAD QURESHI AM Greater London Authority London-wide assembly member
