00:00Today, my family and I were meeting Minister Hardy, those of you who've been following her story.
00:07We got an apology from the mayor in February and we finally got an apology from the government.
00:15And I feel it's appropriate because Tuesday was 14 weeks to the day that Ella first became ill.
00:23And it is a tough week for us because it was during half-term week and as her mother the
00:32injuries she suffered was similar to what our KC at the time, who is now the Attorney General,
00:40said it was similar to torture. So although this isn't going to bring Ella back, we finally,
00:48except this is acknowledgement of what happened to her, and to put the issue of air pollution
00:54firmly on the map, that it's a public health crisis when we look at our NHS and something
01:00needs to be done about it. And I've got to thank you journalists, I mean really and truly,
01:05who have been with myself and given my children space to grow up through all this journey. But
01:11today it is finally over but I am going to continue and I have been reassured by the
01:18government that they're going to continue to work with me to clean up the air. And Sir Stephen
01:24Holgate, the main eyewitness to Ella's inquest, is also going to be part of it. This has been an
01:32incredibly long and painful journey and I've met many of you quite a few times actually.
01:40And it's a month short of when we started Ella's inquest, which was four years ago.
01:47And it's an opportunity again to thank the British public who donated money so we could get Ella's
01:56inquest quashed and get a fresh inquest. Ella remains still the only person in the world to
02:02have air pollution on her death certificate, although about seven million people die prematurely
02:09every year. And my concern has not changed. Children in London and I got given news another
02:15child has died in London through asthma and no child in 2024 should be dying. This isn't just
02:22about Ella, it's about all children and it's the number one childhood disease in this country.
02:28It's the main reason, apart from COVID, why children miss school in this country. But
02:35we're thankful for Minister Hardy who gave us more time than was, you know,
02:41we were even expecting. And thank you so much for waiting.
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