Professor Stephen Holgate

Ella really was like the canary in that she was able to sense the pollution and be a warning to others and a warning to government, really, that something needs to be done about this.

I had no idea what would happen.

What I did know was that I knew about asthma.

I knew about Ella because I'd spent the last two and a half years poring over all this material.

My evidence was only about nearly two hours.

But my God, they really tried to put me through the mincer.

He kept saying, you will agree.

You know, he pointed to some document.

We had a bunch of documents about two feet high.

And every time he said that, I said, no, I do not agree with the answer.

And actually, that is wrong.

The British police have just recognized the role of air pollution in her death.

I can't tell you what a big impact this has had.

You can have all the epidemiology in the world, but having the story of a single mother and a child with real facts actually is more influential in many ways than all of the sort of complex statistics and everything else put together.