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No GLA debate on killer junctions & cycling safety as London's Tories stage 2nd walkout in 6 months

After June's Blackfriars Bridge debacle, another motion regarding safety of capital's cyclists fails to get heard...

For the second time in six months, a Greater London Assembly (GLA) debate on a motion regarding the safety of cyclists in the capital has had to be abandoned due to Conservative Assembly Members staging a walkout.

Labour Assembly Members Val Shawcross, who had tabled today’s motion, tweeted: “Every Tory on London Assembly walk out in a sulk after losing a vote - meaning that our motion on Cycling safety in London falls.”

The scenes were a repeat of what happened almost six months ago to the day when a debate on a motion by Ms Jones over controversial plans by Mayor of London Boris Johnson to remove a temporary 20mph speed limit at Blackfriars Bridge had to be shelved.

That walkout in June was ostensibly in protest at a perceived lack of representation of the Conservative Party on GLA committees, but it attracted a wave of criticism from cycling campaigners as well as from Ms Jones herself.

"It is striking that, keen as our mayor is on cycling, his party would react in such a childish way to this motion,” she said. “The Tories have shown a complete disregard for the safety of London's cyclists and pedestrians. The delay in discussing this motion could be fatal if it leaves Blackfriars Bridge unsafe."

At the time, the Evening Standard’s chief news correspondent Ross Lydall tweeted: “Cyclists, take note: Tory Assembly members don't give a toss about safety on Blackfriars bridge. They walk out to prevent City Hall debate.”

Today’s debate was also likely to see Mr Johnson come under fire, with he and Transport for London facing intense criticism for seeming to prioritise the free flow of traffic over the safety of cyclists and other vulnerable road users.

Moreover, Labour Assembly member John Biggs took issue last week with delays in a promised safety review at the Bow roundabout where Brian Dorling and Svitlana Tereschenko lost their lives in recent weeks.

“Boris needs to get an urgent grip on safety at Bow roundabout and live up to his commitment to take immediate steps to make this junction safer. I welcomed the commitment he made two weeks ago, but he is now a week late with no sign of taking any action.

“He seems more concerned with media management than getting this problem sorted out. I have written to him seeking detailed information on safety at the junction nearly a month ago but he hasn’t bothered to respond. He needs to take the concerns of local people and cyclists’ seriously.”

That a walkout should once again happen ahead of a scheduled debate on a motion that is directly related to the deaths of three cyclists in the past two months at Kings Cross and the Bow Roundabout, with another killed in Bermondsey just last Friday, is sure to attract further criticism from cycling campaigners.

Not only does it appear to undermine the work that Assembly Members such as Mr Biggs, Ms Shawcross and Ms Jones are doing to try and improve the safety of the thousands of people who daily cycle about the city; it could also be interpreted as a slap in the face for those such as the London Cycling Campaign working on those issues, as well as the ordinary Londoners who have turned out en masse to flashrides aimed at highlighting conditions at Blackfriars Bridge and the danger presented by the road layout at a number of junctions in the city.

Whatever the claimed reasons behind today’s walkout - according to a tweet from Ross Lydall, in a statement afterwards, the Conservatives claimed it was "nothing to do with cycling" - and irrespective of whether Mr Johnson had advance knowledge of it, that’s a dangerous game to be playing with a mayoral election looming in the new year.

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

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6 comments

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OldRidgeback | 12 years ago
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They're behaving like sulky teenagers and putting people's lives at risk while doing so. It is appalling.

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JohnS | 12 years ago
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I sincerely hope that all cycling organisations with London connections make it plain to their members that they should never again vote Tory, no matter how cute they think the appalling Boris is.

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mrmo | 12 years ago
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Strap on a pair and DO YOUR JOB.

oh they're doing their "job", you don't think the electorate actually matter do you?

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jonboy0011 | 12 years ago
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Unbelievable... In what way do these elected officials think that they are serving the electorate and their families by buggering off to the pub when they feel like there's a tough meeting coming up. It sounds to me like they were advised not to take part - either for political or legal reasons.

Strap on a pair and DO YOUR JOB.

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Tribble | 12 years ago
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*sigh*

Following the June walkout Andrew Boff (con) claimed that "the walkout does not... put cyclists at risk."
http://andrewboff.blogspot.com/2011/06/that-walkout.html

This time he says it has "nothing to do with cycling."
http://lydall.standard.co.uk/2011/12/16-cyclists-dead-but-tories-refuse-...

Sadly the timing of both walkouts belies these claims. Even if it was "item 6" which led to the walkout could the disruption not have been kept solely to this item of the agenda? (N.B. Andrew Boff's link to the agenda is broken, does anyone know what "item 6" is?)

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Coleman | 12 years ago
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What a bunch of anchors.

More flashrides, please.

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