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Labour pledges a real cycling revolution backed by long-term investment

Shadow Transport Secretary also says justice will be done in cases where cyclist is the victim

Shadow Transport Secretary Michael Dugher says Labour will create a real cycling revolution should it win next year’s general election by committing to long-term investment supported by measures such as stricter safety rules for lorries and ensuring “justice is done” in cases where cyclists are the victims.

The Barnsley East MP, who replaced Mary Creagh in the shadow cabinet role earlier this month, attacked the coalition government’s record on cycling in a statement reported by Local Transport Today.

He criticised the government for its decision, following the 2010 general election, to scrap Cycling England and the Cycling Towns and Cities initiative, as well as noting that little had come of Prime Minister David Cameron’s promised “cycling revolution” apart from last month’s Cycling Delivery Plan.

Published last month, the plan was described as “derisory” by national cyclists’ charity CTC, and was also criticised by British Cycling and the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group for setting unambitious targets and failing to commit to annual minimum spend of £10 a head on cycling.

He called for “real action now to ensure that the country benefits from safer roads, increased levels of cycling and effective road sharing for all types of road traffic” and said, “where this Government has refused to act, a future Labour government will deliver for cyclists.”

Mr Dugher was speaking ahead of yesterday’s announcement by Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg of an additional £214 million in funding for cycling for the three years 2015/15 to 2017/18.

But £114 million of that money however will be split between just eight cities in England – those that were successful in securing Cycle City Ambition funding last year – with the remaining £100 million going to the planned successor body to the Highways Agency.

Sustrans and CTC, among others, welcomed the extra cash, but repeated their call for investment of £10 per head per year across the country.

Mr Dugher promised that a Labour government would ensure “better cycling education, stronger road safety enforcement and enhanced road engineering for the benefit of cyclists,” and outlined how it achieve that.

He said the party would “outline a proper long-term plan with clarity over funding sources,” and would act quickly to produce a cross-departmental strategy to promote active travel.

Provision for cyclists would be designed into major transport projects to “put pedestrians and cyclists at the centre of our roads policy,” and a future Labour government would also look to draw on the Active Travel Act now in force in Wales.

Under a proposed HGV safety charter, all lorries would be fitted with features such as rear-facing cameras, side guards and audible warning systems, while the party would also reintroduce road safety targets to cut the number of deaths and serious injuries.

Reflecting calls from groups such as Road Peace, British Cycling and CTC to overhaul the legal system’s approach following road traffic incidents where a bike rider is the victim, he said, “We need to ensure that justice is done and seen to be done in cases where collisions lead to cyclist deaths and serious injuries.”

Adding that Labour would also commit to continue funding Bikeability training, Mr Dugher said the party would “implement real changes.”  

He added: “We’ve seen over the last four and a half years that it’s easy for politicians to talk about their support for cycling and promise a “cycling revolution”.  But people can see through the hype.

“What is needed is real action and a long-term strategic effort to promote cycling from both national and local government.  And this is what we will set out to deliver in 2015.”

Whether Labour will play a part in the next government is open to question. In the wake of September’s referendum on Scottish independence, the party has taken a battering in opinion polls north of the border, with the SNP enjoying a surge of support.

Current projections are that Labour, widely seen as needing a strong performance in Scotland if it is to have any chance of a Westminster majority, may lose all but a handful of its seats there to the SNP.

That could leave Labour as the largest single party following the general election but without an overall majority, and with the Liberal Democrats forecast to lose most of their seats, the SNP could well become the third largest party in terms of seats.

Earlier this month, the SNP’s new leader, Nicola Sturgeon, said she would not rule out the prospect of her party seeking a coalition with Labour in the event of a hung parliament come May next 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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16 comments

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banzicyclist2 | 9 years ago
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I'd more inclined to listen if they (Labour or whoever else wants my vote) made S.M.A.R.T statements of intent and not just vague promises.

By the way S.M.A.R.T stands for

Specific
Measurable
Accountable
Resourced
Time bound

What are the chances our politicians will sign up to that? And actually keep their promises? Like Nick Clegg did over student grants eh!

Don't make laugh  24

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antonio | 9 years ago
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The only pledges they keep are expenses, (fiddled or otherwise) and MP's salaries.

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Yorkshie Whippet | 9 years ago
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100bhp cars, you mean about 90% of motor vehicles then? I have six year old 1.3 normally aspirated car that's rated at 90 bhp.

Who says motorbike riders are whiter than snow anyway?

I personally think compulsory hours bike ride as part of the test would be a step forward. Or the offensive of impatient driving for those up the arse or close passing.

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PonteD replied to Yorkshie Whippet | 9 years ago
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Yorkshie Whippet wrote:

I personally think compulsory hours bike ride as part of the test would be a step forward.

Why not make it Bikeability training?No certificate, no driving licence.

An hours riding isn't enough, they need at the very least a day, maybe make them log 24 hours cycling before they are allowed to pass (submit your GPX/TCX files or Strava uploads for processing). And at least a third of that needs to be commuting (commuting to college can count as well), not all nice Sunday afternoon rides in the countryside.

I wouldn't say all motorbike riders are bad, it just seems to be the fat blokes on superbikes that are knobbers.

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Airzound | 9 years ago
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If you believe this bollox from Liebour you probably believe the moon is made of cheese and Santa Claus does exist  24 .

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Initialised | 9 years ago
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Labour, here is what you need to deliver to cut the death toll on Britain's roads:
Strict Liability.
More vehicle width restrictions on narrow roads.
Vulnerable users have priority by default at junctions and roundabouts effectively making it an offence to overtake.
All new vehicles, taxis and vehicles over 2T, 2m width, 6m long or 100bhp/T to be fitted with active collision avoidance systems, front and rear cameras which store the last 15 minutes imagery, GPS location data and telemetry for automatic upload to insurance and police in the event of a collision, by 2020 at the cost of the owner.
1m minimum overtaking distance for vehicles passing vulnerable road users.

Specific offences automatically applied in all reported collisions with vulnerable road users:
"Endangering a vulnerable road user" 3 points
"Injuring a vulnerable road user" 6 month ban and re-test
"Killing or Seriously injuring a vulnerable road user" - Lifetime ban.
Allow "endangering" to be negated by taking Bikeability training to level 3 standard or compulsory basic training for motorcycles, for close passes, parking in cycle lanes or blocking access to cycle infrastructure.
Routine 5 year theory re-tests focussed on vulnerable road users and new road infrastructure to keep the driving population up to date. Fail the theory, lose your licence until you pass the full test.
All existing cycle lanes widened to a minimum of 2m and made 'Mandatory".
Minimum of 1m spacing between car parking and an adjacent cyclelane.
Traffic lights become give-way for cyclists unless there is a specific red cycle light.
Pavements and public footpaths to allow cycling by default unless they are less than 2.5m wide or there is a specific risk of erosion or the presence of protected wildlife.
Enforcement cameras on all traffic lights with ASLs.
Legally enforced 'design rules' with Space for Cycling built in for all new roads or road redevelopment.
20mph within cities, 50 mph on urban dual or rural single lane, 40mph on narrow roads with passing places, 100mph limit on 3-lane (or more) motorways to placate drivers and reinforce that you drive slow in towns.

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kie7077 | 9 years ago
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How about offering:

20mph in all residential areas and most city roads.
Collision Liability law like they have on the continent.
Enforcement of traffic laws
Sensible sentencing
Re-write careless/dangerous driving laws with better wording, including specifics for common crap such as 'the sun was in my eyes' etc.
Collision detection sensors as mandatory in all new vehicles
Rules/code for cycling infrastructure so no more dangerous cycle lanes etc.
Train everybody in charge of road infrastructure.
Passing distance law 1m under 30mph, 1.5m over 30mph.
More sensible speed limits on single lane winding A roads
Cycling videos treated seriously as evidence and followed up, Roadsafe nationwide that works and is manned by more than 1 person out of the tens of thousands available.

Concrete promises not wishy washy 'we'll improve cycling'.

The whole tone about funding for cycling like we cycle on different roads is just daft. Cycling needs to become an integral part of all infrastructure decisions as standard. Traffic smoothing clearly doesn't work, time to dump the old methods.

What is needed is real action and a long-term strategic effort to promote cycling

No, cycling doesn't need 'promoting', people already want to cycle but they don't because they are too scared to cycle on Britain's roads.

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truffy replied to kie7077 | 9 years ago
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kie7077 wrote:

I have never seen a cyclist wearing a top hat, let alone doffing one. And he seems not to be riding a penny farthing.

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Some Fella | 9 years ago
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Is there an election imminent by any chance?

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wild man | 9 years ago
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There would be more votes in declaring open season on cyclists.

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HalfWheeler replied to wild man | 9 years ago
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wild man wrote:

There would be more votes in declaring open season on cyclists.

Who's to say they won't say that too? Labour are quite adept at speaking out of both sides of their mouth!

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Housecathst replied to wild man | 9 years ago
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wild man wrote:

There would be more votes in declaring open season on cyclists.

Yep, see UKIP for that.

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oozaveared replied to Housecathst | 9 years ago
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Housecathst wrote:
wild man wrote:

There would be more votes in declaring open season on cyclists.

Yep, see UKIP for that.

Just out of casual interest why is UKIP in the frame as anti cycling. Its just that I don't think beIng pro or anti cycling is related to party politics. I've been riding in a club since 1973 I've known cyclists with all kinds of politics and as a professional driver for over 20 years I've had colleagues of all persuasions that have hated cyclists and many like me that were also cyclists.
I'm just not convinced that one is related to the other. The nearby UKIP candidate is actually a damn good TT rider. I'm not sure it's relevant.

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cqexbesd replied to oozaveared | 9 years ago
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oozaveared wrote:

Just out of casual interest why is UKIP in the frame as anti cycling.

http://road.cc/content/forum/77338-ukip-policies-bikes

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HalfWheeler | 9 years ago
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Headline should read;

"Labour Pledges to say Absolutely Anything to win Election..."

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ironmancole | 9 years ago
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Well, the noises are a start at least. Having abandoned voting as a fools errand some years ago it is going to take some proper intent for me to go back and test their promises.

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