Air pollution plan cannot be delayed, high court tells government

Court rules immediate publication is essential and rejects Defra’s plea to delay until after the general electionThe government has been ordered to publish tough new plans to tackle air pollution after the high court rejected attempts by ministers to keep the policy under wraps until after the general election.In the latest defeat for ministers over their continued failure to tackle the UK’s air pollution crisis, which is responsible for 40,000 premature deaths a year,, Mr Justice Ga