The government is back in court again accused of morally and legally failing the British public on air pollution.

And it's thanks to EU laws and lawyers ClientEarth's commitment to justice that this Conservative administration is being forced to answer for its failings.

As we look to the future, it is clear that leaving the EU cannot be allowed to become a means to legitimise the government's continued abdication of its responsibility for this public health emergency.

Despite the preventable deaths of 50,000 British people, every year, and an annual public health bill of £20 billion, ministers are still failing to take the air quality crisis seriously.

It is important to be clear that ClientEarth is holding the Government to account for failing to do the bare minimum, as required by EU laws the UK itself helped to set, to improve the quality of the air we all breathe. The bare minimum.

Where embraced and enforced, EU air pollution limits are helping to prevent thousands of deaths every year. In fact, this government readily acknowledges that it is EU law that has been the driver of any positive air quality action in the UK. For the sake of the health and prosperity of the British people, we cannot risk scrapping these safeguards.

The Government must finally face up to its moral and legal responsibility for tackling Britain's air quality crisis. Ministers must, regardless of the outcome of this court case, make a firm commitment to maintaining and strengthening vital EU air quality laws.

Keith Taylor is the Green Party MEP for the South East