SIR: Steve Brine is to be congratulated on being only one of five Conservatives to vote for the legal air pollution threshold for the most dangerous particulates, to be brought down to the World Health Organisation’s recommended level. That 354 Conservatives thought it was perfectly alright not to control emissions that kill 40,000 people every year, says something about the nature of our Government.

But only one cheer for Steve Brine. Right now Highways England is felling trees south of Winchester and plans further work at Junction 9, in order to increase the capacity of the M3, with the inevitable result of generating new traffic and increasing carbon and pollutant emissions. The latter will inevitably impinge upon air quality alongside the road and in Winchester itself. The annual average PM2.5 particulate level in central Winchester last year was 9.1gm-1, just below the 10gm-1 level he voted for. And that was a year of major lockdown and traffic reduction.

Our MP is a firm supporter of the £100billion road programme, of which this is a small part and which, incidentally, has no demonstrated economic benefit. He has never to my knowledge explained how he reconciles the huge carbon consequences of the programme (which are not denied by Highways England) with the UK’s commitments to decarbonising its economy.

The government is promoting a new kind of climate change denial. It accepts that global warming arises from human activity but it denies that action is necessary, a position that voting records show has been consistently taken by most Conservative MPs, including especially, the Environment Minister. The Prime Minister’s contention is that ‘world-beating’ gee whiz technology will solve everything and we do not need to change behaviour.

So, in the year the UK is hosting COP26, we are in the absurd position of Chancellor Sunak, who apparently cannot afford to provide a decent level of income support to those most in need of it, spending tens of billions quite deliberately undermining our treaty obligations on carbon reduction. Can Steve Brine explain this? Can anyone?

Chris Gillham,

Upper High Street,

Winchester