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Owners of diesel vehicles may be in line to receive financial help from the Government if towns and cities adopt new measures to curb pollution, the prime minister has suggested.
Theresa May's hint comes as the mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, announced his intention to roll-out the Ultra-Low Emission Zone from April 2019.
Khan claimed the scheme will reduce NOx emissions in central London by 50% by 2020. He has also repeatedly called on the Government to do more to tackle pollution, and has suggested the implementation of a diesel scrappage scheme to rid the country of the most polluting vehicles.
At the height of the 'Dieselgate' scandal, Khan's predecessor, Boris Johnson, attempted to get Volkswagen to pay for a cycling scheme in order to clean up the capital's air. "How legally or morally I could enforce a fine on Volkswagen I do not know, but it is certainly worth exploring," he said.
Reports this week suggest that a 'toxin tax' could be applied by several other cities, charging diesel car drivers up to £20 a day to enter pollution hotspots.
In March 2001, the VED rules were changed to reward lower CO2-emitting cars and diesel naturally emits less carbon dioxide than petrol. May's hint suggests she could introduce a scheme to help those who were told diesels were good for the environment.
The Government is in the process of drawing up new anti-pollution measures after losing a highly-publicised High Court battle against environmental lawyers, Client Earth, and this whitepaper is likely to include measures to crack down on road transport pollution.
"Decisions will be taken when we produce that [air quality] plan," May is reported to have said to journalists while on a trip to Jordan and Saudi Arabia. "But I'm very conscious of the fact that past governments have encouraged people to buy diesel cars and we need to take that into account when we look at what we do in the future."
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