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Birmingham MP takes to the Commons to protest that cycling is not just for 'white young men'

Richard Burden MP says £23m Birmingham cycling funding will open up a new transport option to all

A row about whether Birmingham spending millions of pounds of cycling provision is ‘discriminatory’ because it ‘only benefits white young men’ has reached the House of Commons.

Last year, England’s second largest city was awarded £17 million under the government’s Cycle City Ambition initiative, which together with £7.3 million in local funding is aimed at getting 5 per cent of journeys made by bicycle within a decade, rising to 10 per cent after 20 years.

However, speaking at the Edgbaston District Committee in September, Conservative councillor Deirdre Alden expressed concerns over the sums being spent, because “the vast majority of cyclists on our roads are young, white men.”

Now the Birmingham MP Richard Burden, who is also Labour's official transport spokesman, hit out at Deirdre Alden's claims that Birmingham's £23 million plan to encourage cycling was discriminatory. She also added that women who like to wear modest clothes would not be able to join in.

She went on: "Most elderly people are not going to cycle, and it would be dangerous for them to start on our streets now.”

Mr Burden (Lab Northfield), said: "In my own town, Birmingham, a prominent Conservative councillor is on the record saying that cycling is discriminatory against women, particularly women from ethnic minorities. Fortunately, most people in Birmingham do not share that view.

"There are huge benefits to cycling. In particular, it improves people's health – physical inactivity costs the NHS between £1 billion and £1.8 billion every year – and protects the environment by tackling air pollution and congestion in our towns and cities."

Birmingham City Council's own impact equality assessment, which they had to produce as part of their bid for the government funding in 2013 did state that some ethnic groups are currently more likely to cycle than others - but states the scheme is designed to encourage "excluded" groups to start cycling:

"The proposals will make cycling a more attractive travel option for short trips, including a range of communities and social groups, many of which are ethnically mixed or socially deprived, and which may not have a cycling culture at the moment.

"Inclusion of women will be encouraged through initiatives such as Women on Wheels as part of the supporting measures package."

Making cycling more accessible to people who do not currently ride is a key part of the council’s strategy, however, with the Cycle City Ambition application underpinned by a ‘built it and they will come’ approach.

Providing safe infrastructure, for example, has been shown to encourage more women to cycle, and the initiative also seeks to increase levels of cycling among ethnic minorities and schoolchildren.

The councillor also claimed disabled people do not get any benefit from cycling, although a report from a Birmingham City Council committee ahead of the formal bid cited that “indicators demonstrate that cycling amongst individuals with disabilities [in Birmingham] is increasing at very encouraging levels.”

According to the Birmingham Mail, councillors were reportedly “stunned” – despite the initiative being widely reported locally at its launch – to hear that of 5,000 bikes the local authority plans to buy to establish cycle hubs which will act as hire stations and centres for training, 2,000 will be given to people living in deprived areas.

The initiative, Big Birmingham Bikes, follows on from the council’s Be Active initiative, designed in part to reduce levels of obesity.

At its launch earlier this year, Councillor James McKay, the council’s cabinet member for a green safe and smart city, said the Be Active initiative was “now an internationally recognised public health intervention. Look at the figures: forty per cent of 11-year-olds are overweight and one-in-four is obese.”

He added: “There are barriers to cycling and not everyone can afford to go out and buy a bike straight away, but short-term loans, long-term loans and bike maintenance should help to break down those barriers.”

Ian Austin (Lab Dudley North), co-chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, said: "A central recommendation is for long-term, dedicated funding of £10 per head per year, rather than limited funding for eight cities for a couple of years.

"We want ten per cent of journeys to be made by bike by 2025 – the figure was less than two per cent in 2011 – and we call for lower speed limits in urban areas. We want more effective enforcement of the law, we want children to be taught to ride at school, we want more segregated cycle lanes, and we want cycling to be considered properly as part of the urban planning process."

"The possible benefits range from saving the NHS £17 billion to increasing the mobility of the nation's poorest families by 25 per cent.

"Traffic delays in London cost £1.5 billion a year. An increase in cycling would tackle congestion and pollution, and would make our roads safer and our transport system more efficient.

"It would enable people on low incomes to travel more easily, would make our town and city centres more pleasant places, and would support local economies."

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10 comments

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Pip Piper | 9 years ago
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Need to get her to see our film made by Birmingham based film makers and cyclists!! " Bicycle" feature documentary which roadcc is media partner with.It features plenty of women and some diff age groups too!!
www.bicyclethefilm.com

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Wolfshade | 9 years ago
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I commute into Birmingham City centre, the majority of other riders I come across on the roads are white males. However, if I move my gaze onto the shared use pavement the story changes with a lot of other people having a much more leisurely commute on those (how they will ever get a KOM is beyond me...)
You also have the issue of perception bias, if you are told that the majority of riders are white males then you will probably only spot those white males cycling.
It really sounds more like a failed attempt to come across as PC and standing up for the voter-wise very important enthic groups which traditionally the conservatives have had difficulties reaching.

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truffy | 9 years ago
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@levermonkey, you're using logic to argue against a politician who is obviously oblivious to anything outside her limited precept (a condition not unknown here on road.cc). Good luck.

What Cllr. Alden and yourself might overlook is that, while whites and males might constitute an 'unfavourable' proportion of the population, they're the ones most likely to afford or use a car. So, (a) getting them on a bike might be better for all, and (b) the other subpopulations presumably represent a greater proportion of cyclists and would themselves benefit from improvements in the architecture.

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levermonkey | 9 years ago
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Little note to Dierdre Alden

1) According to the 2011 Census 87.1% of the UK population are white. Assuming a 50:50 male:female split then 43.55% of the population are white males.

2) More males than females cycle on the public road.

So even if the popularity of cycling was evenly split across all ethnic groups then white males are going to predominate.
It's a numbers game.  26

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gmac101 | 9 years ago
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Mrs Alden's perception I suspect is a result of being a driver. I commute in SW London (into Kingston - U - Thames from a nearby suburb) and the direct route on roads which are designed to get as many cars into Kingston as possible are poorly provided with cycle facilities and are the preserve of the cyclist Mrs Alden is familiar with. But if you take the longer route which takes you along residential streets, shared cut through's and footpaths and one dedicated cycle bridge most motorists won't see you but you will see elderly ladies and gents pottering along on Raleigh shoppers, school kids, builders with spirit levels strapped to the top tube, ladies on Pashley look alikes and even the odd Mamil. This is no dutch paradise but there is just enough infrastructure, 20 mph limits etc to make people feel safe and they use it, and if it was more obvious I'm sure more would. I don't think Birmingham is that different from London - Mrs Alden build it, and the elderly, the young and everybody in between will come.

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bikebot replied to gmac101 | 9 years ago
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I completely agree and support your comments gmac101.

I'm also in SW London, in neighbouring Merton. The mix of cyclists I find pootling around during the daytime or on quiet routes is markedly different to that I might find on CS7 heading into the city in the morning. But the latter group appears to be much more visible to non-cyclists.

One change I've noticed is the number of mums I see riding with child seats, something that ten years ago was almost as rare as a cargo bike. This in an area that still has swarms of 4x4s around every child care centre each morning.

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Chuck | 9 years ago
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Quince wrote:

Anyone who asserts that 'only white people can ride bikes' is... I'm not sure what word to pick, but an idiot of some form.

Councillor Alden is certainly way off the mark but as far as I can see she hasn't said this.
More like 'only white people do ride bikes'. And in Birmingham at least that doesn't seem too far off the mark as far as I can see.

But yeah, the very reason she's saying it shouldn't get any money is the same reason it should get money, otherwise this won't change.

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Quince replied to Chuck | 9 years ago
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Chuck wrote:
Quince wrote:

Anyone who asserts that 'only white people can ride bikes' is... I'm not sure what word to pick, but an idiot of some form.

Councillor Alden is certainly way off the mark but as far as I can see she hasn't said this.
More like 'only white people do ride bikes'. And in Birmingham at least that doesn't seem too far off the mark as far as I can see.

But yeah, the very reason she's saying it shouldn't get any money is the same reason it should get money, otherwise this won't change.

You're right, of course. I got a bit carried away with hyperbole.

However, not investing in infrastructure because 'only white people DO ride bikes' seems to strongly suggest a belief that 'only white people WILL ride bikes', even once the infrastructure is in place. This suggests that there is something inherently 'white persony' about riding a bicycle, and it's this that I take issue with, because it's nonsense and stupid and... and... wrong!

It's still looking at cycle-infrastructure as a sort of present 'for' a specific group, rather than as a transport strategy for everyone. It sees cycling as nothing more than an odd hobby for a handful of sporty white blokes, and refuses to view it as anything more.

It's this that irritates me, because it writes cycling off as socio-politcal issue (like almost everything else in the bloody news cycle - there's always someone out to take 'your' jobs/money/women/road space), rather than a simple issue of transport for the general public.

It muddies the debate, spreads ignorance, and stops anything actually getting done.

Sorry for the rant. I think we actually agree on pretty much everything.

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Quince | 9 years ago
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Anyone who asserts that 'only white people can ride bikes' is... I'm not sure what word to pick, but an idiot of some form. It's the most pathetic protest against cycling infrastructure I've seen (...maybe), and continues to treat 'cyclists' as some sort of strange clan, rather than just 'people riding bikes'. 'People' being the word too often forgotten.

Just build something which is good for everyone, and everyone will use it - or at least benefit in some way. Turning a pedal is not an matter of ethnicity.

I can't imagine seeing motorway plans being shelved on the grounds of them being 'discriminatory'. Or train-lines. Or anything else.

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Daveyraveygravey | 9 years ago
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I'm 50 next year, does Deirdre think I am young?! The ignorance about cycling is astonishing.

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