Extinction Rebellion activists today walked from The Crystal in Newham to City Hall to call on Sadiq Khan to cancel the Silvertown Tunnel.

The proposed road tunnel between the Greenwich peninsula and west Silvertown in Newham has been heavily criticised by locals and activists who fear it will cause further air pollution.

To mark Earth Day, three members of Newham Extinction Rebellion made the walk from the proposed new home of the GLA to its current home with the intention of delivering a letter to Sadiq Khan, though City Hall is not able to pass correspondence to candidates during the pre-election period.

Eden Evans, a member of Newham Extinction Rebellion, said: “Three of us have walked from the new City Hall, The Crystal building which is in Royal Docks, and that building is actually right next to the mouth of where the proposed tunnel is going to come out on the Newham side.

“There’s a massive amount of opposition locally on both sides of the river and that’s why we walked, in order to call on Sadiq Khan to cancel the tunnel.

“Sadiq Khan is known for several policies, particularly around road traffic and reducing pollution, and this is completely out of step with his other policies.”

Ms Evans said that Newham already has “some of the worst air pollution in the country”, and that the tunnel will “continue to entrench the health inequalities” that have been exposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Despite today’s setback, the activists said they would attempt to deliver the letter to Sadiq Khan by post.