The Conservative Party’s London mayoral candidate Susan Hall has committed to reviewing cycling infrastructure if elected, and lashed out at cycle lanes that she claims are “virtue signalling” and cause “havoc” and gridlock for motorists.
It should be noted that such a review would require the unlikely event of Hall first overturning a 26-point deficit in the polls in just five weeks to become the English capital’s next mayor. Having launched her campaign in a cafe in Uxbridge on Sunday, Hall has again set her stall out as the candidate to end the so-called “war on motorists”.
Speaking to the Evening Standard, Hall said she is “pro any form of transport” but questioned why “damn ridiculous” cycle lanes had been built when “we must remember there’s only two to three per cent of the population that are cyclists”.
“We must look at some of these cycle lanes that have been put in,” she said. “I’ll give you the example of Park Lane. It’s damn ridiculous, quite frankly. It was virtue signalling by this mayor [Sadiq Khan] because there’s a cycle lane that goes through the park right next door. The traffic then gets gridlocked. Fumes all over the place.
[Park Lane segregated cycle lane — Transport for London]
“A successful city is a moving city. When you’ve put some of these cycle lanes in that cause nothing but havoc, when you put cycle lanes in because you’re virtue signalling; that is unacceptable. The other thing that nobody seems to bring up, which is so important when we have gridlocked streets, is how do we expect our emergency services to get through?
“It is very important that ambulances, fire engines, police can get through the streets as quickly as possible, as well as the rest of us. So, I am pro cycling, but equally we must look at everybody else that uses the streets. And this war on the motorists must stop.”
> ‘The War on the Motorist’ deconstructed — looking at the truth behind the myths
Hall’s campaign is focused heavily on opposing the current mayor’s Ulez scheme, something she claims she would scrap on her first day in office. The Conservative Party candidate, looking to become the first Tory figure to hold the role since Boris Johnson and in turn prevent Khan achieving a third term, has also previously been outspoken about her desire to remove “unnecessary 20mph zones” and reverse low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs).
Earlier this month, Hall claimed LTNs — the schemes that prevent drivers rat-running certain roads in residential areas, in a bid to encourage active travel and tackle air and noise pollution — were “blocking ambulances” and preventing emergency services accessing routes.
LTNs (low traffic neighbourhoods) are blocking ambulances from getting to where they need to be.
I am listening to Londoners and will do all I can to help councils remove unwanted LTNs. Tell me if there’s an LTN you want removed ?https://t.co/48gzfeSLwI pic.twitter.com/towbJZbGIH
— Susan Hall AM (@Councillorsuzie) March 5, 2024
This came despite the London Fire Brigade, in 2021, saying that LTNs had no impact on response times. Likewise, police in Tower Hamlets last year urged the council not to scrap a Liveable Streets scheme, saying that it has resulted in a reduction in anti-social behaviour-related crime. Police in Hackney too have previously released a video urging people “don’t believe any scaremongering” and adding that it is “just completely false” to suggest they could not attend emergencies because of the low-traffic schemes.
> Pop-up bike lanes don’t slow ambulances according to… the ambulance service
In 2021, Hall also made headlines when commenting on a viral video of a child narrowly avoiding being hit by an impatient driver who refused to stop as he cycled past with his father. Hall claimed the child “should not be on the public highway riding a bike”.
Speaking at her campaign launch, Hall argued Londoners had been “ignored” for eight years under Khan. “If he wins a third term, that would be giving him permission to ignore us again,” she said.
“Crime has spiralled out of control after he shut police stations and failed to recruit police, rents have spiked because he has not built the affordable family homes Londoners deserve, and he has imposed his unfair Ulez expansion tax, hitting the lowest earners the hardest.
“I am listening to Londoners. My priorities are Londoners’ priorities and as mayor I will recruit more police, build more affordable homes and scrap the Ulez expansion on day one.”
In response, current mayor Khan said the choice between the pair, which he called a “clear two-horse race”, was also “quite clear”.
“Me, who’s been delivering a fairer, safer, greener, more affordable London, or the Tories who would cancel that,” Khan suggested to the BBC. “There’s a possibility of a Labour mayor and a Labour government working together, rather than rowing against the tide of a Tory government.
“We’d have the winds of a Labour government at our back, bringing about real transformation in London.”
61 thoughts on “Conservative London mayoral candidate claims “virtue signalling” cycle lanes are causing “gridlock” and “havoc”, would review cycling infrastructure if elected to end “war on motorists””
Irony being that Susan Hall
Irony being that Susan Hall lives in a private LTN.
“we must remember there’s
“we must remember there’s only two to three per cent of the population that are cyclists”.
Well, only about 0.3% of the population are Tory party members. So shut up.
From a party whose video
From a party whose video campaign includes the wording that Khan “seized power” in London.
Tells you all you need to know about them.
” there are less than 200km
” there are less than 200km of separated cycle lanes in the entire London ( out of approximately 15000km of road) So even if @CouncillorSuzie did win (which she won’t) and ripped them out it wouldn’t make an ounce of difference “
Facts aside, which she has
Facts aside, which she has obviously chosen to ignore in the search of what she thinks is a polpulist vote, we need to aspire to a greater sustainable mode share to help to avert the climate emergency so not providing the infrastructure (or ripping it out) will have massive consequences :-/
Can someone please show Susan
Can someone please show Susan Hall this video by CycleGaz showing the true cause of slow motor traffic (answer: motor traffic), via comparing the same section of road on a “normal” day against a school holiday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z57UgWLCfRg
And with the issue of emergency services not being able to get through due to cycle lanes…
We all know that they definitely cannot get through motor traffic but cyclists can pretty much disappear to enable them to keep moving, as seen here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AC8ylffIUig
A while ago I used the cycle
A while ago I used the cycle path from Cheltenham to Gloucester. I heard sirens as I approached a set of traffic lights. The traffic was completely clogged and I was greeted by the sight of a police car driving straight at me at speed probably about 20m away. The driver was using the cycle lane to get past the queueing vehicles and got back on the road as soon as he cleared the lights. Quite scary for a split second but it sort of contradicts cycle lanes holding up emergency vehicles.
Another of CycleGaz’s clips,
Another of CycleGaz’s clips, this one showing police using the cycle “superhighway” to get past motor vehicles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ncH3j7Lto2c
Bungle_52 wrote:
Maybe they should incorporate that usage into the design of separated infrastructure and make them wide enough for the most common emergency vehicles where practical. However, to make it workable they should also make it a specific offence to block those lanes with any other vehicle and preferably actually enforce it by towing vehicles parked there.
My first thought was how
My first thought was how amusing but the more you think about it the better the idea becomes. Chapeau.
The figure for minimum width
The figure for minimum width for emergency vehicle access seems to be 3.7m between kerbs (e.g. given here). That would certainly make a good bi-directional cycle path by UK standards! There are 3.5m 2-way cycle paths in NL although I think for busier ones / fast cycle routes newer builds are 4m or greater.
Article measuring these (from 2011 and before).
You could show her that but
You could show her that but she’s not listening.
She’s not looking for solutions to transport problems, she’s just looking for a new group to blame to help motivate her campaigne.
She’s someone that doesn’t want kids on bikes, doesn’t want parents on bikes and doesn’t want anyone on bikes.
Fact-free campaign, this one:
Fact-free campaign, this one:
Tory mayor contest ad shows New York instead of London
it’s just beyond parody now:
it’s just beyond parody now:
The video also warned of “squads of Ulez-enforcers dressed in black, faces covered with masks, terrorising communities at the beck and call of their Labour mayor master, who has implemented a tax on driving, forcing people to stay inside or go underground”.
“Gripped by the tendrils of rising crime” it continued, “London citizens stay inside”.
“The streets are quiet.”
How many motorists have been
How many motorists have been killed by cyclists while commuting to work, Susan Hall? You see – that is why there are cycle lanes.
Her policies aren’t just
Her policies aren’t just crackpot and stupid, they are actually dangeous. More cyclists will die in the next 4 years if she is elected if she rips out LTN’s and cycle infracstructure.
I think this is probably her
I think this is probably her application for a job on GB News.
She won’t be getting the London gig.
“I am listening to Londoners
“I am listening to Londoners.”
Clearly not, she’s listening to tory party HQ, which is majoring on the “war on motorists” because they literally haven’t got anything else.
Our infrastructure is falling apart, the poor can’t afford to eat, we waste hundreds of millions on a scheme to send asylum seekers to Rwanda, the rich have sucked up all the money, and the tories think that lying about LTNs and cycle lanes is going to win them the election.
Deluded, but I suppose if you literally haven’t got anything else, it’s worth a try, and to be fair, the most gullible will fall for it, but hopefully most people won’t.
“we must remember there’s
“we must remember there’s only two to three per cent of the population that are cyclists“
That might be true nationally, but doesn’t seem feasible for London. The latest Census data shows that for commuting, around 5% of those that commute do so by bicycle. In some boroughs, it is as high as 15% (https://www.ons.gov.uk/datasets/TS061/editions/2021/versions/6)
And, 24% of Londoners have cycled in 2023 (https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/december/new-tfl-data-shows-sustained-increases-in-walking-and-cycling-in-the-capital)
Yet another Conservative being economical with the truth.
IIRC the figures for
IIRC the figures for ‘Londoners who don’t own a car’ are quite interesting too…
The fact is, it’s not just
The fact is, it’s not just the people who cycle too in London it’s that many people want to cycle even if they don’t now. or they know friends, partners, family who do cycle. Would they want cycle lanes taken out and their loved ones lives put at risk?. She’s so unbeleiveably out of touch it’s laughable. Just systematic of the state of a dying party.
a1white wrote:
Reminds me of comparing cycle lanes to a bridge crossing a crocodile infested river.
“Hardly anyone swims across that river, so we don’t need a bridge”
I was riding in London today
I was riding in London today and wondered why infrastructure for travel is not more widely condemned, i.e only cycle lanes.
Where is the rage at car lanes, pedestrain lanes, bus lanes, rail lanes(?) even flight (path) lanes…….and a bridge came down today becasue a ship drifted out of its lane
Broadly that’s because of
Broadly that’s because of competition for space but there are a couple of features of human psychology in play here. People cycling and people driving are allowed to share (mostly) the same road space but THE CYCLISTS ARE NOT PAYING ROAD TAX! Or rather – they’re both getting in the way AND cheating. Cyclists are not playing by the same rules because we can filter and indeed some road rules don’t apply to us.
Another source of conflict is that sometimes pedestrians and cyclists share space. Here cyclists represent much faster vehicles in my space. Space where you can walk safely / casually is very often at a premium because cars. Cycles are usually rare (not expected), less visible than cars, don’t sound like them (indeed are very quiet) so can ‘suddenly appear’ and scare people.
People stuck in traffic do sometimes complain that people are walking faster – but don’t tend to punch pedestrians because they are not directly competing for the space. They understand they can’t use that space and it’s not the pedestrians getting in their way.
I suspect where there are actual separate cycle paths it works the same way – or like how people stuck in their cars probably wouldn’t complain about people passing them on a train running parallel to the road.
UK has the worst housing
UK has the worst housing stock of any ‘advanced’ economy, so this all matches!
Tory War on Cycling.
Tory War on Cycling.
Hell, there thinking I was
Hell, there thinking I was thinking I was cycling around london, using LTN’s and bike lanes because it’s the fastest method and it’s good for my health (the hospital consultant practically prescribed cycling to me) and all along I was “virtue signalling”. Jeez, the Tories wonder why people hate them
Tories: “There is a war on
Tories: “There is a war on motorists.”
Putin: “There is no war in Ukraine, it is a special military operation.”
Both of those statements lack credibility. Both are an insult to everyone dead and dying in all wars.
Apparently what’s happening
Apparently what’s happening in Ukraine is a war now. As Putin’s spokesman Peskov explained at the weekend, it started out as a special military operation but became a war when the collective west became involved.
Poor old Putin. The West
Poor old Putin. The West keeps forcing him to invade countries whose governments won’t abdicate in favour of Russian puppets! Because after he does so they pre-emptively attack Russia – in the media or at the United Nations! (They should try that in Russia – that’s 7 years for a first offense!)
Being a former intelligence guy he’s clearly pining for the heyday of the organs of state security.
It’s almost like the can’t be
It’s almost like the can’t be bothered.
Susan Hall is a person
Susan Hall is a person accustomed to dealing in half truths and blatant lies. That’s why she went ahead with using a video clip for her campaign of panic following reports of a shooting incident on the NYC underground and pretended it was from London. Anyone who votes for her is accepting of the normalised lying of the Conservatives in the post truth world pushed ahead by Boris Johnson. Sadiq Khan may have his shortcomings but he’s not an out and out liar and he does seem to actually care about active mobility and London as a whole rather than treating the Mayoral election process as an exercise in pandering to mistruths.
OldRidgeback wrote:
You could apply that statement to the entire Tory party.
This should be good…
This should be good…
If Tories who want to run the capital think London is in New York, shouldn’t we be worried? | Marina Hyde https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2024/mar/26/tories-london-new-york-uk-crime-susan-hall?CMP=share_btn_url
Incredible. It’s like they
Incredible. It’s like they are deliberately trying to lose, unless they think that the electorate is really, really stupid, but the current polls suggest that they aren’t.
eburtthebike wrote:
I genuinely think that they are trying to lose, ever since Khan became mayor they have thrown everything they can think of at London, from slashing the police budget to refusing to allow him to control train fares (something they had promised would happen if their candidate had been elected) to forcing him to take unpopular measures as a condition of Covid bailouts. They know just what a bad place they have put the capital in and it’s far easier to have a Labour mayor in place whom they can blame for everything rather than having to sort out the mess they have created. I mean, you only need to look at 60 seconds of any interview with Susan Hall to realise that she is both astonishingly stupid and deeply ignorant (doesn’t know what a London bus fare costs, what a London bobby is paid or, hilariously, who actually owns Hammersmith Bridge), even amongst the ranks of the Conservatives there must have been hundreds of better candidates but none more likely to lose by a landslide.
marmotte27 wrote:
Controversial attack ad on Sadiq Khan made solely by Tory HQ, source says
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2024/mar/27/conservative-source-says-sadiq-khan-attack-ad-was-made-solely-by-tory-hq-susan-hall
Susan Hall should go back to
Susan Hall should go back to New York if she hates London so much.
Susan Hall is a fool and a
Susan Hall is a fool and a liar.
Fortunately all she’s doing is burying the Conservative Party in its political grave.
And, based on her statements,
And, based on her statements, a complete fruitcake. The real worry is not that people like her seek public office, it is that there are plenty of people out there who will actually vote for her.
I think, as is mentioned
I think, as is mentioned below, it’s all about establishing her credentials as lurking down there in the Tory/ Mail depths- just like Braverman did. Let’s just hope they never re-surface
What was that phrase recently
What was that phrase recently heard? “Vice signalling”?
Trump-style political Punch and Judy.
True, framing your opponent as at best mistaken is one defining feature of politics. There does seem to be a recent (decade?) trend of noting that in fact many people aren’t mathematicians or philosophers and aren’t actually that fussed about truth per se. So why not ignore that and focus on selling the most salient stories, dropping those that don’t take without care for consistency? Embrace conflict and make politics entertaining again!
I’m having a bit of
I’m having a bit of difficulty believing that in an emergency an ambulance wouldn’t be allowed in a low-traffic neighbourhood. What happens if the person it’s going to pick up lives in one?
john_smith wrote:
Just repeat the mantra: “cycle lanes .. cause nothing but havoc … virtue signalling … gridlocked streets … war on the motorists must stop … squads of Ulez-enforcers dressed in black, faces covered with masks, terrorising communities”
And something about
And something about hardworking families.
Why not look up all the
Why not look up all the stories about people dying because the emergency services couldn’t get to them because of an LTN?
Yeah there’s hundreds of them
Yeah there’s hundreds of them…..
And thousands of houses burnt
It has the smell of some of the taller stories the brexiters were telling in their heyday. And “just get rid of them” is reminiscent of “just leave”. Happy times.
Life must be horrible being a
Life must be horrible being a right whinger, waking up every day wondering who (and how) they’re going to spread their hate. Imagine being that insecure.
She thinks Crawley is in
She thinks Crawley is in London
She also thinks Croydon doesn
She also thinks Croydon doesn’t have pollution problems, apparently; on the rare occasions I have to go there I’m always struck by the fact that the air is tangibly more polluted than it is in my own inner-city neighbourhood, it literally made the eyes sting and the throat sore (I haven’t visited since the ULEZ expansion, hopefully it’s improved as nearby areas, e.g. Crystal Palace, noticeably have).
Rendel Harris wrote:
Depends on which bit of Croydon you are looking at, I expect. The centre, West and North are like you describe; but the east and south are very different. Not that I’m defending her, of course.
Of course, there are the nice
Of course, there are the nice agricultural parts around the borders – I cycle in them regularly – but I would imagine introducing separate exclusion zones for such areas would be a logistical and administrative nightmare. I wouldn’t dream of accusing you of defending her, that would be a terrible insult!
Rendel Harris wrote:
I was defending Croydon, really – and especially its dull suburban areas (think Terry and June!) – as it’s where I grew up.
Fair enough, I grew up in a
Fair enough, I grew up in a dull south London suburb too! Mind you, my wife grew up in Croydon and pretty much refuses to set foot in the place…
Rendel Harris wrote:
Yeah, I don’t actually go there now (except for football) since my parents moved to Beckenham!
Tory mayor candidate – “we
Tory mayor candidate – “we must remember there’s only two to three per cent of the population that are cyclists”
TfL report 2023 – “In the financial year 2022/23, 24 per cent of Londoners reported having cycled in the past year, up from 21 per cent in 2019/20
Also, TfL report 2020 – “Car driver (journey) stages in 2019 were 14.7 per cent below the 2000 level. Growth has been highest in cycle journey stages, which have grown by 152 per cent since 2000, albeit starting from a relatively small base.”
Build it and they will come.
Yup. Not sufficient, but
Yup. Not sufficient*, but apparently necessary.
That’s not great news as it means building more stuff / paying more money. On the other hand it gives a far better return on investment than e.g. more roads and filling potholes [1] [2] [3].
* Needs motor traffic volume reduction and at least initially measures to improve awareness / compliance of motorists – as I’m not aware of anywhere with complete or even majority separation of cycling from cars when there is mass motoring. Also places to store and park your bike and the market might need prodding in the direction of suitable bikes.
Don’t let facts get in the
Don’t let facts get in the way of a populist vote strategy :-/
Cycle lanes in London are
Cycle lanes in London are needed because motorists cause considerable delays to cyclists, also cycling to and from work or school improves mental health and physical fitness therefore saving the NHS a lot of money. We had huge traffic Jams in London a long time before bus/cycle lanes and LTNs, the traffic jams in past were mostly caused by the same sort of people as they are now – one person per car motorists, they are the people who cause the delays to the emergency services.
Motorists cause delays for
Motorists cause delays for everyone – each other as well as buses, emergency services, cyclists and pedestrians but apparently that’s generally seen as OK. As is the pollution and harm caused, the damage to the roads and infrastructure, the stress due to the traffic noise and so on and so on… And that’s before we even begin to look at the hugely positive benefits that active travel provides for mental and physical health.
I have to stop behind cars in queues multiple times on every journey through Shrewsbury. It’s a pain. While queue-jumping on the bike can be quite satisfying I would prefer it if the queue didn’t exist in the first place or if I had dedicated cycle infrastructure that I and others could use instead of the short sections of poor quality shared pavement as an alternative to mixing with cars, vans and buses.
Susan Hall is just shit-talking about cycling and LTNs because they’re seen as an easy target / scapegoat for people’s frustrations. But she has NOTHING to offer the people of London if she is elected as mayor.