Boris Johnson today said that Greater Manchester's Clean Air Zone plan is 'completely unworkable'.
The Prime Minister was asked about the scheme, which will see the most polluting vehicles charged up to £60 a day, in the House of Commons this afternoon.
MP for Leigh James Grundy told PMQ's that the proposal would put a 'job-destroying tax' on 'ordinary workers'.
He asked whether Mr Johnson would 'intervene' in the plans.
Mr Grundy said: "The Greater Manchester Mayoral Clean Air Zone scheme, effectively a congestion charge affecting all 500 square miles of Greater Manchester, including my constituents in Leigh, is a job-destroying tax on ordinary workers.
"We all want clean air, but the model proposed by Mayor Burnham is unworkable and economically devastating with charges of £60 per day, per lorry driver.
"Taxis, white van men, even buses, will be affected by it.
"Will the PM intervene to prevent Mayor Burnham from inflicting this disastrous Labour scheme on Greater Manchester?"
Andy Burnham has previously laid blame on the government itself for the scheme, after it laid down a directive in spring 2020 ordering Greater Manchester to clean up its air by 2024.
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But in response to Mr Grundy's question, Mr Johnson said: "I know from my own experience how vital it is when you're trying to clean up air in a great city that you do not unjustly penalise business and small business and it's become clear that the scheme proposed by the Labour mayor in Manchester is completely unworkable, would do more damage to businesses and residents in Manchester.
"So we must find an alternative that doesn't punish local residents."
He added: "The Secretary of State for the Environment will be saying more about this in the coming days."
The scheme is the largest of its kind in the country and will cover all ten boroughs - an area of around 493 miles.
The first phase of CAZ, set to be launched in May and which will hit drivers of high-emission vehicles, will see a £60 charge for HGVs, buses and coaches, £10 for vans and £7.50 for taxis and private hire cars.
Failure to pay the charge will result in a £120 fine plus the daily charge.
It is being launched after polluted air in the region is estimated to cause over 1,000 deaths a year, with 152 separate stretches of road on which nitrogen dioxide is at illegally high levels.
But there has been a major public backlash ever since signs were erected across the region at the start of the year, with multiple protests from taxi drivers who could be hit by the new charges.
The Mayor has previously said that he is ‘open to any solution’ that might cut pollution to legal levels without jeopardising jobs.
He added: “We have to get the air down to legal levels. Government is requiring us to do that. We want to do that, to clean up the air, without losing a job, a business or putting anybody into hardship."
