17/02/2017 London News

With thousands of people dying prematurely every year in London

because of air pollution, the Mayor is determined to tackle

the problem and today he outlined plans to introduce the so called

Drivers of some of the oldest and dirtiest vehicles will be

charged an extra ?10 on top of the congestion charge to come

It will affect about 10,000 vehicles every weekday but many say

Our Political Correspondent Karl Mercer reports.

My name is Sadiq Khan, I'm the Mayor of London.

Signed up at an early age to the Mayor of London's

But tackling London's air quality will need more than posters.

So today, we learned of City Hall's new steps.

First, of course, we had the congestion charge -

13 years on, the toxicity charge is coming, later this year drivers

of the most polluting cars will have to dig deeper.

The new charge will come in on October the 23rd.

Older vehicles will be charged ?10 on top of the current

congestion charge of ?11.50, meaning that they will pay ?21.50

It is estimated 10,000 vehicles per day would currently be

Although City Hall says it thinks that 4000 of those

I've deliberately not done this overnight.

Notwithstanding my big election victory last May,

65% of Londoners want me to take bold action, that's why I'm

The T charge will take place from October the 23rd and from 2019.

There will be an ultra low emission zone.

I know that when I walk to school, I can just inhale the toxic fumes.

We need to contain this, this is one of the world's megacities.

Support here today, and some key questions for the Mayor.

For some people, maybe that small charge is something that they cannot

Those who are just surviving, just getting by, just about managing

to have a car in the first place, whatever the charge will be,

?10, it can be really damaging to some people.

Although the mayor is targeting cars of around ten years old,

even some new cars will be just as polluting.

Their emissions on the road are very different to those

It raises awareness which is a good thing, the fact that we are putting

information out into the public domain so consumers can make good

choices is a good thing and I think pressure needs to be put

technology in the vehicles perform on the road as they do in the lab.

City Hall says the so-called T charge is just one part of efforts

A campaign that the mayor has put at the top of his agenda.

Well, if you'd like to know whether you'll be affected

by the charges, you can check your vehicle

Domestic violence victims in seventeen London boroughs

will get extra help, thanks to nearly ?3 million

The money will go towards extra beds in refuge

accomodation, giving survivors somewhere safe to live

while they receive training to help them back into work.

Thousands of Vauxhall workers in Luton are waiting to hear

about the future of their jobs after crunch talks in Paris.

The Business Secretary Greg Clark has been in the French capital

as Peugeot considers a takeover of General Motors.

It is a deal which could create the second-largest

But, how many jobs would remain in the UK?

They've been doing this at the Vauxhall plant

in Luton since 1905, but there are very real fears

this potential takeover could lead to job losses,

Guido is just one worker recently laid off.

We thought there was a contract coming, and they just said

that they had to get rid of 48 people.

US giant General Motors employs 4500 people at its two UK plants

But tens of thousands more work in its retail and supply chain.

On Tuesday, it emerged that GM was in advanced talks with French

manufacturer Peugeot Citroen, which wants to buy its European arm.

With 14 factories in France and Germany, part of that equation

too, there could be a 3-way tussle for job security.

The French and German governments are meeting,

and that would be to secure the future for their plants,

and we want to make certain that the UK is not sitting

The Business Secretary is determined that will not happen.

Greg Clark met with GM officials earlier this week,

and then went straight to Paris to meet Peugeot executives.

In October, Nissan raised doubts over their future here due to Brexit

but was appeased with assurances from the government.

There is no doubt that the climate is tough.

Vauxhall is a European company, most of its production goes

to the rest of the European Union, most of its components

The big uncertainty of freedom of trade within Europe

and the single market, the customs union, you know,

if you are a French manager, choosing between a British

and a German operation now, frankly it is a bit of a no-brainer.

So far, workers in Luton are in the dark.

We haven't heard the ins and outs of it yet.

They've just said that they will let us know when they know.

I think that most people are fairly stoic about it,

Until they talk to us, we cannot do anything.

With the French government heavily invested in Peugeot and German jobs

three times more expensive to get rid of than here, there

That's it for now from me, but lets find out what the weather's

up to this weekend with Helen Willetts.

-- with John Hammond. Red sky at night, Shepherd's the like. There

are not too many shepherds in the centre of London, but you get the

drift. It is going to be a nice weekend. I don't promise a huge

amount of sunshine, but we will see some bright spells, very well

indeed. Most of the weather action will be in the north-west. Further

south and east, the cloud is patchy. Temperatures are bit down quite low

under clear skies. Some mist has been forming. Most of the fog will

be on the high ground in the morning. Be aware of that if you are

setting out early. Six Celsius typically, with some places chillier

than that. It will start of murky in the morning, but the sun will come

out for a good few of us at some stage through the afternoon. 14

Celsius is possible. In the early part of next week, we could see 16

Celsius in a few spots. part of next week, we could see 16

Celsius in a few spots. Here is knit with the National output.

We have turned things around in the space of a week, with a more

springlike feel out there. Some places may get as high as 17 Celsius

on Monday. That is the exception, and most of us won't see that.

Plenty of cloud throughout this weekend. It is already producing

some outbreaks of rain in western and northern parts overnight will

stop not amounting to too much, affecting western Scotland later in

the