Sadiq Khan is still insisting the air on the London Underground is safe, and the “dust in the tunnels and stuff” is nothing to worry about because it’s “not breaking any laws“. Speaking on LBC this morning, Khan was confronted by none other than James O’Brien with research showing the air quality on the Tube is up to twenty times worse than above ground. Research which, while O’Brien claims he “hasn’t checked the provenance of”, is remarkably similar to Guido’s investigation…

Sadiq nonetheless claimed it’s “not true“… although the air “could be cleaner“:

“I’ve seen that flying around as well… that’s not true. There are issues in relation to dust and in relation to the cabins of drivers driving our tubes actually, which is a source of concern to me… it’s not breaking any laws and it’s not a breach of health and safety, but it could be cleaner. That’s why we’re taking steps to clean up the air on the Underground, the dust particles… we’re working with experts to see what more we can do… there’s a lot of dust in the tunnels and stuff…”

The World Health Organisation’s recommended safe limit for PM 2.5 air particles is 10 micrograms per cubic metre. At one point in Guido’s own investigation, the platform at Seven Sisters station registered a PM 2.5 reading of 145 micrograms per cubic metre. The Committee for Medical Effects of Air Pollution (COMEAP) said a one hour tube ride was as harmful to health as a full day standing by roads in Central London.

None of that matters according to Sadiq, because it’s the wrong kind of toxic air… just as he once insisted you couldn’t catch Covid on the tube. We asked a source who is an RMT union representative working on the Victoria Line, who said “Sadiq is either unable to understand or not willing to understand the state of the underground. Particularly on my line, the negligence of City Hall is clearer than ever”. The people who work in the toxic underground don’t seem to agree with the Mayor…