Dieselgate: Rosamund protests outside the Royal Courts of Justice 

On 13th October, Rosamund joined Mums for Lungs outside the Royal Courts of Justice in London, to demonstrate the level of public concern about Dieselgate. They were joined by major charities and campaign groups such as ClientEarth and Asthma + Lung UK. In a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Mums for Lungs, ClientEarth and Asthma + Lung UK are calling on the UK government to ensure car manufacturers investigate and recall cars.

Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah CBE said:

The evidence shows that illegal pollution from diesel vehicles has caused thousands of premature deaths in the UK. My daughter Ella’s death was the first in the world to be officially linked to air pollution — but we know she is not the only one. 

Car manufacturers have a moral and legal duty to put this scandal right. And the Government needs to step up and phase out diesel vehicles that are still on our streets by 2030. It is morally unacceptable that toxic air is still being pumped out by these vehicles without us knowing. As the Coroner said in Ella’s case ‘if it wasn’t for the illegal levels of air pollution, not only would Ella have not have got asthma in the first place, but she would not have died on that fatal night.’ We owe it to every child growing up now to make sure that the air they breathe is safe so that they will not get sick and they will not continue to die.