Mayor Boris proposes cash for motorists to scrap diesel cars

Motorists should be paid at least £1,000 to persuade them to scrap their diesel cars, London Mayor Boris Johnson has proposed. It was put forward by the Mayor in a […]

Motorists should be paid at least £1,000 to persuade them to scrap their diesel cars, London Mayor Boris Johnson has proposed.

It was put forward by the Mayor in a written evidence yesterday, prior to his appearance before the Environmental Audit Committee, which is conducting an inquiry on air quality.

The idea builds on the national scrappage scheme introduced in 2009 under which owners of vehicles that were more than 10 years old were offered £1,000 in a bid to persuade them to buy new cars.

However, it was discontinued in March 2010.

Mr Johnson said in his statement: “A national scrappage scheme for diesel and other polluting vehicles is now needed as a priority in order to compensate people who have bought polluting diesel vehicles in good faith, as well as to drive forward air quality improvements.”

Earlier this year the European Commission launched legal proceedings against the UK for failing to tackle air pollution. Data from UK’s Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) in July also showed three of Britain’s cities – London, Birmingham and Leeds – will exceed European air pollution limits until at least 2030.

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