BACK ELLA’S LAW TO SAVE LIVES

The Ella Roberta Foundation has long called for an update to the UK’s legislation that governs air quality.  Previous governments have failed to update existing laws so that the UK’s air quality targets are more in line with those set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).  As such, the air that most of us breathe in the UK has so much pollution in it, that it far exceeds the limits deemed as ‘safe’ by the WHO.

The Clean Air (Human Rights) Bill known as Ella’s Law was reintroduced to the House of Commons in July 2025.  Due to parliamentary process, it is unlikely to be adopted into law unless this Government push for it, which is why we are calling for it to be included in the next King’s Speech (this occurs at the start of each parliament when the King reads out the Government’s agenda of what it wants to deliver in that term).

We believe everyone has a right to breathe clean air, which is why this new Clean Air Act/Ella’s Law is so important as it would enshrine this right into UK law.

If you want to help us convince the Government that people care about air pollution and want to see a new updated law to protect their health, please copy and paste the text below and send to The Prime Minister.

Send to: keir.starmer.mp@parliament.uk

CC in your local MP if you know them.

Dear Prime Minister,

On 1st July 2025 The Clean Air Human Rights Bill known as Ella’s Law, was reintroduced to the House of Commons. Ella’s Law is named after Ella Roberta Adoo-Kissi-Debrah who died aged 9 from asthma caused by air pollution, primarily from traffic emissions from the South Circular road close to where she lived in London.

But we know Ella is not the only one, the Royal College of Physicians linked air pollution to a range of 700 illnesses, including cancer and dementia, citing that it causes 500 premature deaths per week in the UK. The UK also has one of the highest number of emergency admissions and death rates for childhood asthma in Europe. The poorest and most vulnerable in our society suffer the most, whilst contributing the least to the problem of poor air quality.

To ensure Ella’s Law reaches the statute book, we are asking you to prioritise more time in the House for this important piece of legislation to be heard.

Importantly Ella’s Law would:

– Establish a pathway to comply with the World Health Organisation’s (WHO’s) air quality guidelines – the very minimum levels of air pollution to protect human health. The UK’s current air quality targets fall far below what is deemed ‘safe’ by the WHO and the EU.

– Enshrine the Human Right to clean air in law thus preventing the deaths of children and other vulnerable people, whilst helping to protect the environment and mitigate climate change.

Please do what is right and protect the health of everyone in the UK by allocating more sitting Fridays in parliament for the Bill to be read and progress through the House.

Air pollution affects us all and your attention to it should be above party politics. People are dying in the UK from something that is highly preventable, we urge you to do something about it and protect the citizens you were elected to represent.

Yours sincerely,

[insert name]