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Sadiq Khan, Heidi Alexander and Val Shawcoross.jpgMP who has called for tougher laws on dangerous cycling appointed London's Deputy Mayor for Transport
Heidi Alexander, the Labour Member of Parliament who last year called for tougher laws to be introduced against people who cycle dangerously, has been appointed by Sadiq Khan as his Deputy Mayor for Transport.
The Lewisham East MP’s constituents include Matthew Briggs, who launched a campaign for the law to be toughened after his wife Kim was killed by Charlie Alliston, who crashed into her on London’s Old Street in February 2016.
Alliston, who was riding a fixed-wheel bike that had no front brake, was convicted by an Old Bailey jury of causing bodily injury through wanton and furious driving under the Offences Against The Person Act 1861, but acquitted of manslaughter.
After he was sentenced to 18 months’ custody in a young offenders’ institution in September 2016, Alexander raised the issue of the law relating to dangerous cycling at Prime Minister’s Questions.
She asked Theresa May: “Does she agree that the law on dangerous driving should be extended to included offences by cyclists and that the 1861 offence of wanton and furious driving, on which the prosecution had to rely in this case, is hopelessly outdated and wholly inadequate?"
> Prime Minister urged to extend dangerous driving law to cycling
In response, the Prime Minister said that the Labour MP had "raised an important issue. We should welcome the fact that the prosecution team were able to find legislation under which they were able to take a prosecution, but she makes a general point about ensuring that our legislation keeps up to date with developments, and I am sure that the Secretary of State for Transport will look at the issue."
Later that month, Transport Minister Jesse Norman announced a two-part cycle safety review, currently under consultation, which will address not only how to improve the safety of cyclists, but also whether a new offence equivalent to causing death by careless or dangerous driving should be introduced.
> Government announces cycle safety review in wake of Alliston conviction
In December, in a written question Alexander pressed Norman over “when he plans to commence the second phase of the review of cycle safety announced on 21 September, into wider road safety issues.”
The minister, whose responsibilities at the Department for Transport include cycling, replied that a Call for Evidence would be published “in early 2018” and that “Preliminary discussions regarding Phase Two have already started.“
> Government asks for “help, ideas and evidence” on how to make cycling safer
Alexander, who succeeds Val Shawcross in her new role, will step down as an MP, with City Hall saying, “In law it is not possible for Heidi to be both Deputy Mayor and an MP.”
Observers of London politics will note that for the final 12 months of his term as Mayor of London, Khan’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, combined that role with sitting in the House of Commons as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Andrew Gilligan, who served as London’s Cycling Commissioner under Johnson, was among those who reacted on Twitter to today’s appointment, writing: “Heidi Alexander cycles – and has voiced support for improvement. But her main recent work in the field was to lead the campaign for tougher dangerous cycling laws.”
London Cycling Campaign (LCC) told road.cc that it wanted to thank Shawcross “for her dedication and support for cycling in London,” which saw LCC members vote her and fellow co-chair of the Greater London Assembly Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon, Cycling Champions of the Year 2015.
“We thank Val for her subsequent efforts, as Deputy Mayor for Transport, in creating the positive approach to sustainable transport that figures large in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy,” LCC continued.
Commenting on the new appointee, LCC said: “We are looking forward to working with Heidi Alexander as she steps into her new role as Deputy Mayor for Transport, supporting her to achieve the Mayor’s ‘Vision Zero’ target of no deaths or serious injuries on the city’s roads by 2041.
“To achieve this very worthwhile aim we need to see far improved infrastructure for walking and cycling accompanied by the right legislation to ensure safe and considerate behaviour on all roads.”
Alexander, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2010, acted as campaign chair for Khan when he was seeking selection as the Labour candidate in the 2016 mayoral election.
The Mayor said he was “delighted” that she had agreed to take up the position.
“Heidi knows this city inside-out, and her work both as Shadow Health Secretary and campaigning over the best Brexit deal has demonstrated the terrific job she will do as part of my team standing up for London,” he said.
“Heidi is respected across the political divide as a parliamentarian and campaigner, and Londoners can be confident she will ensure we deliver our ambitious plans to transform London’s transport network over the coming years.”
Alexander acknowledged that Shawcross , who retires after 18 years at City Hall where she chaired the Greater London Assembly’s Transport Committee and more recently helped Khan draw up his transport strategy and five-year business plan, would be “a hard act to follow but I can't wait to get started.”
She added: “After eight years as the Member of Parliament for Lewisham East and six years as a local councillor, I know just how important it is we ensure everyone has access to a high-quality and affordable public transport network, with safe cycling routes across the capital. London is a fantastic city.
“I know Sadiq wants its transport system to be the envy of the world and I am looking forward to playing my part in making that happen."
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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47 comments
I got fat from about 11-14, not American fat but fat enough to get all the "get a bra" type comments in PE. Luckily I came across skateboarding which was for rejects anyway and by the time I was 17 I was looking like Iggy Pop. Follow that up with glandular fever and I've never been fat since.
Any time I've started to put weight on it's just back off the treats and try and up the exercise.
Weird how people remember you as fat though even when you aren't anymore. I was still fat to people at school even with a six pack.
Hey, not only that ill tell you about all the exercise i do. I'm not the world's most prolific cyclist but I generally cycle 16 miles round trip, 2 or 3 times a week for commuting ( drive other days). If the weather is ok I'll go a 30 mile or so ride around the edge of the peaks at the weekend or take my MTB round Cannock Chase. I've travelled down to London and done the Dunwich dynamo the last 3 years. I swim twice a week, about 80 laps a go of the local 25m pool. I jog a couple of times a week, my big Sunday run will usually be 10 miles or so (depending on what races I'm training for) I ran my second half marathon of the year on bank holiday Monday - my worst hm time ever because of the heat- took me 2 hrs to get round. Last November I ran my first full marathon in Birmingham. I attend a yoga class every Monday with my wife.
I am 17 stone and have a BMI that classifies me as obese. I have issues with food and my mental health that make it a struggle for me to keep my weight down.
I was bullied at school for being fat. I have had people shout fatty at me from cars. I have been judged on my appearance as n made to feel inadequate.
So please don't judge people purely on their "fat-ness". It doesn't mean we are lazy. Life is more complicated than that.
I think this is called over sharing!
Is that enough info for your curiosity?
I certainly did not judge anyone "purely on their fatness" and I didn't abuse anyone either, unlike you.
I referred to someone who is "grossly obese", not just high on the BMI index, and asked a reasonable question about that person.
It really isn't all about you but I'm sure you enjoyed your opportunity to start ranting under cover of the imaginary moral high ground you think your particular circumstances allow you.
It would be nice just to have a civilised and objective exchange of views on occasion but it seems that just isn't possible any more.
Why mention she is "grossly obese" at all? Isn't that judging someone on there fatness?
Your saw a picture of her and your first thought was "fat" and articulated that in a written post.
Plus you didn't just say was obese, you said she was "GROSSLY obese".
Sorry for pointing out that you happen to be on the spectrum of body shaming and body fascism but it does everyone good to check their prejudices.
Why mention she is "grossly obese" at all? Isn't that judging someone on there fatness?
Your saw a picture of her and your first thought was "fat" and articulated that in a written post.
Plus you didn't just say was obese, you said she was "GROSSLY obese".
Sorry for pointing out that you happen to be on the spectrum of body shaming and body fascism but it does everyone good to check their prejudices.
[/quote]
If you had read the comment without flying off the handle you would realise I mentioned the obvious fact she was grossly obese in order to make a serious point where I asked a question about her fitness for the job. I said grossly obese because that is what she is and I did not mention simply being high on the BMI index as you wrongly inferred.
You seem to think the issue cannot be mentioned because that breaks your number one rule of political correctness and entitles you to start abusing others.
I have no prejudices in this regard and neither did I express any but you are hyper-sensitive about the issue which is your problem and not mine and something I can't help you with.
If you had read the comment without flying off the handle you would realise I mentioned the obvious fact she was grossly obese in order to make a serious point where I asked a question about her fitness for the job. I said grossly obese because that is what she is and I did not mention simply being high on the BMI index as you wrongly inferred.
You seem to think the issue cannot be mentioned because that breaks your number one rule of political correctness and entitles you to start abusing others.
I have no prejudices in this regard and neither did I express any but you are hyper-sensitive about the issue which is your problem and not mine and something I can't help you with.
[/quote]
"I'm not prejudice against fat people I just question the ability of a fat person to do a job. I'm just saying she's fat because she is obviously fat. Look at her fatty fatty grosley fat but I'm not prejudice against fat people. Did I mention she's fat and I don't think fat people can do this job but I'm not prejudiced against fat people. She's not just high on the BMI index, she is grossly fat. I just couldn't imagine a fat person riding a bike, but I'm not prejudice against fat people. I'm not politically correct, if I see a fat woman I just come out and call her grossly obese and question her ability to do her job because of it, but I'm not prejudiced against fat people "
When I read that she'd quit parliament to work for Khan, I did think the word 'work' really needed to be in inverted commas. Given that Khan doesn't appear to actually do anything about transport, indeed seems to be completely inert in general, I'm not clear what 'work' there is for her to do.
And, no, I'm not convinced she's really much of a cyclist. BMI arguments aside, where's the evidence to support that claim?
Didn't South Park do an episode comparing Boris Johnson and Sadiq Khan? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0BuPgrBwHU
Take comfort from the fact that Khan does nothing other than pose for photo ops and whinge about central government, so the impact of this appointment will be zero.
He has no idea what to actually do with the mayoralty and the sooner he is replaced by someone who has even half a clue, the better.
You mean the guy who railroaded through a ton of new cycling infrastructure despite very well funded and organised opposition? Yeah, I think I did.
Talk about damning someone with faint praise - I must have missed all the "quite good" stuff he's done - what is it?
Well maybe once she sees the crash statistics she'll understand that cyclists are predominantly the victims of poor driving rather than otherwise. In her previous role she was after all sticking up for a constituent, perhaps without having reviewed the DfT data on road crashes in full.
As for body shaming her, that's uncalled for. Hopefully she does actually cycle and perhaps might start cycle commuting to her new job, in which case she'd certainly learn a lot.
If Alliston was put away for eighteen months in September 2016, doesn't that mean he's probably already out of jail? Gosh, the media coverage to get his side of the story has been deafening...
I don't understand why some people here are commenting on her weight when she can be quite easily despised without getting into body shaming.
My problem with her is that she used the Alliston/Briggs affair to advance her political career. I understand that Matthew Briggs was one of her constituents and was particularly noisy about the loss of his wife (understandably), but surely an MP has to work for all of her constituents? How can she justify ignoring all the people with respiratory complaints caused by the criminally poor air quality and then proceed to put lots of energy into getting an old law updated that will only affect maybe one person a year?
Hate her for what she does, not for how she looks.
Because they are cowards and it's much easier to throw stones rather than think of a vaguely intelligent or even pertinent contribution.
It also tends to polarise any debate so that sensible views and useful facts are ignored.
If you are talking about me then I suggest you examine your own comments and mine more closely.
I made a perfectly valid point on the basis of the evidence and you saw the opportunity to start hurling abuse around, thereby polarising the debate yourself and carefully ignoring the facts. You can always guarantee someone will barge in with a politically-correct rule learnt by rote which they feel confident they can apply indiscriminately in order to assert their imaginary moral superiority over others.
Did I quote you or mention you?
No.
So I'll not be following your suggestion.
I pointed out that she was grossly obese in the context of the claim that she is a cyclist, not as a politically incorrect "body shaming" exercise. This claim sounds spurious to me particularly in light of her anti-cycling record. She is a very good example of why we need better cycling facilities.
FWIW, it wasn't her who claimed she was a cyclist - it was Gilligan, in the context of a mainly critical tweet. Do you think that he was lying?
Or could it just be that overweight people are still able to ride bikes? And that the world can't be neatly divided into pro/anti cyclists?
I don't know who is lying or if anyone is lying. I suggested the possibility on the basis of the evidence.
Yes, overweight people can ride bikes but I know a lot of cyclists and I've seen a lot of cyclists and a reguar cyclist rarely presents as grossly obese so it is a perfectly reasonable point to make. As for the world being divided into pro and anti-cyclists I don't remember suggesting such a thing but carry on with your strawman arguments if you want to continue to deflect from the debate.
Hello..
a) i'm a regular cyclist
b)i'm obese
c) i see people with high BMIs riding bikes everyday
d) A persons weight or appearance is no indictaion on how they will perform in this role.
e) F*ck you, you judgemental body fascist.
While I'm sure you're telling the truth, could you just tell me how many mile you cycle every day?
repeat post deleted
Sounds to me as though you don't think that grossly obese people can cycle. I don't know whether she cycles or not, but I've seen plenty of obese people on bikes and that's something to be encouraged, not disparaged.
Obviously cycling is something to be encouraged as part of a healthy lifestyle. I don't know why you interpret my comments to sound as though I don't think it is possible to cycle when grossly obese. I've seen obese cycle riders but I've never known a grossly obese regular cyclist. I would have thought we are both on the same side in that we both want to encourage more cycling for everybody and I think it is counter-productive to start attacking each other on grounds of rigid politically correct rules. I have not "disparaged" anybody.
I apologise if I've mis-interpreted your comment, but it sounded like bullshit to me.
I'm not attacking you at all, I'm just calling you out on a comment that I think is unfair to a lot of people. I'm not particularly motivated by political correctness - it's just I feel that body-shaming is often considered to be socially acceptable (e.g. making fun of men with small appendages or women struggling with weight control), so I call it out when I notice it.
Like you say, we're on the same side.
She's also a very good example of why we need better politicians.
Perhaps Heidi could demonstrate her commitment to cycling by immediately pushing through the Regents Park Path? http://road.cc/content/news/241411-london-cycling-campaign-urges-sadiq-k...
I really shouldn't be saying this..... but .... I can't help my self...
I notice that both Mr Khan & Ms Shawcoross are leaning towards Ms Alaxander - is she generating a noticeable gravitational field?
Sorry!
yeah you shouldn't have. That was shit.
I guess that film 'London has fallen' was actually a documentary!
Steel frame for her if she ever gets on bike.
So Heidi Alexander cycles and therefore should understand the issues and priorities. Yet somehow despite all the cycling she is grossly obese and her main recent work in the transport field was to lead the campaign for tougher dangerous cycling laws. Every bad driver claims to be "a cyclist myself" and this mass delusion seems to be spreading, or is it just a lie?
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