Cycling UK has responded to the speech made by Transport Secretary Mark Harper this morning at the Conservative Party's conference in Manchester, accusing the government of being "intent on undermining" some of the "most successful transport policies of recent years" in an "ill-fated attempt to win support" ahead of the next general election.

Harper followed up on Rishi Sunak's comments from Friday about halting the so-called "war on motorists" with a promise that the Conservative Party is "proudly pro-car" and a pledge to introduce a number of pro-motorist policies.

The head of the Department for Transport said he would review guidance on 20mph speed limits in England and opposes their blanket use, would continue the review into low-traffic neighbourhoods, and aims "to stop councils implementing 15-minute cities".

One eyebrow-raising quote came in the form of claiming "sinister" 15-minute city misuse could see "local councils deciding how often you can go to the shops", a claim former BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis said amounted to "conspiracy".

"It is sinister. It's also not remotely true," she wrote on Twitter. "Would love to hear from any local council that is now 'deciding how often you can go to the shops' in case we have this wrong? We are now in a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are being 'cancelled', or where we are being saved from 'sinister' practices that don't actually exist. That's called conspiracy."

"Like trying to complete a jigsaw with half the pieces missing"

Reacting to the speech Sarah Mitchell, Cycling UK's chief executive, called on the government to produce a plan that considers all modes of transport, not just for those who drive cars, and suggested the government "seems intent on undermining" some of the "most successful transport policies" of recent years.

She said: "When Beeching took an axe to local railways in the 1960s, we were robbed of the freedom to choose how we travel. The government's reported 'plan for the motorist' feels like history repeating itself.

"We need a holistic plan for how people can travel — not a plan that zooms in on one particular mode of transport. A plan that gives us the freedom to choose how we travel, maximising our ability to opt for healthy, cheap and convenient options.

"Better public transport, and safer ways for people to cycle and walk are entirely compatible with driving. Focusing on one way of travelling is like trying to complete a jigsaw with half the pieces missing.

"No.10 seems intent on undermining some of the government's most successful transport policies of recent years. Ministers should be proud of their achievements on walking and cycling rather than ditching them in an ill-fated attempt to win support in advance of the general election."

The Department for Transport said its plan will "support drivers and put the brakes on anti-car measures", and includes measures involving 20mph speed limits, low-traffic neighbourhoods, 15-minute cities, bus lanes and parking, Harper's speech also touching on more vague promises about fines, potholes and how resignalling traffic lights can reduce traffic jams.

"For most people, the most important mode of transport remains the car, the van, the lorry, the motorbike," he told his party's conference. "But from listening to certain corners of the metropolitan bubble, you would think that owning a car was immoral, a dirty habit, an optional extra in people's lives.

"Politicians like Sir Keir Starmer, Sadiq Khan, and Mark Drakeford are only interested in the short term, taking the easy way out, and making decisions that hammer motorists to seek praise from social media and London newspapers."

Harper's comments came a few days after the prime minister initially mentioned their proposal, before a weekend when active travel commissioner Chris Boardman had urged Sunak to "stick with" active travel policies.

Boardman argued that making it easier for people to drive would only encourage more people to do so, in turn putting more cars on the road, discouraging people who otherwise might cycle their journeys, and also subsequently making the roads "miserable" for drivers.

The head of Active Travel England also admitted Sunak's election-friendly language such as "slamming the brakes on the war on motorists" is "not the language I would choose".

https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-charity-slams-ill-fated-attempt-win-votes-304235

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> Cycling UK has responded to the speech made by Transport Secretary Mark
> Harper this morning at the Conservative Party's conference in Manchester

> One eyebrow-raising quote came in the form of claiming "sinister"
> 15-minute city misuse could see "local councils deciding how often you
> can go to the shops", a claim former BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis
> said amounted to "conspiracy".

> "It is sinister. It's also not remotely true," she wrote on Twitter.
> "Would love to hear from any local council that is now 'deciding how
> often you can go to the shops' in case we have this wrong? We are now in
> a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are
> being 'cancelled', or where we are being saved from 'sinister' practices
> that don't actually exist. That's called conspiracy."

> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-charity-slams-ill-fated-attempt-win-votes-304235

Well, Emily, why don’t you contact Oxford CC?

QUOTE

Oxford council chiefs “covered up” data that risked “jeopardising” its
controversial climate zones, which will ban residents from travelling
directly between suburbs, The Telegraph can disclose.

Six traffic filters, described as “bus gates”, will close off arterial
roads to cars in an attempt to relieve congestion and promote cycling in a
trial starting next year.

Local drivers will be given 100-day annual permits to cross the boundaries
– or 25-day permits if they live outside the city – and fined £70 on other
days unless they take a detour onto the ring road, with buses, HGVs,
cyclists and blue-badge holders exempt.

UNQUOTE

--
Spike

eburtthebike | 4686 posts | 11 hours ago
3 likes

We now have a government that is living in a fantasy: that they can get re-elected by pretending to support downtrodden drivers. Or they think we are stupid enough to believe them when they talk about utterly ridiculous conspiracy theories that they don't actually believe themselves.

This is the politics of the Sun and the Mail, or perhaps Goebells and Stalin "A lie repeated enough times becomes the truth." Make no mistake, the Sun, Mail, Telegraph etc will be repeating these lies ad infinitum up to the next election, and the BBC will be too, in the name of balance.

We not only need proportional representation to replace first past the post, which denies most people the government they want, we need some way of booting out a government when they are clearly deluded.

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> eburtthebike | 4686 posts | 11 hours ago
> 3 likes
>
> We now have a government that is living in a fantasy: that they can get
> re-elected by pretending to support downtrodden drivers. Or they think
> we are stupid enough to believe them when they talk about utterly
> ridiculous conspiracy theories that they don't actually believe themselves.
>
> This is the politics of the Sun and the Mail, or perhaps Goebells and
> Stalin "A lie repeated enough times becomes the truth." Make no mistake,
> the Sun, Mail, Telegraph etc will be repeating these lies ad infinitum up
> to the next election, and the BBC will be too, in the name of balance.
>
> We not only need proportional representation to replace first past the
> post, which denies most people the government they want, we need some way
> of booting out a government when they are clearly deluded.

A deluded government? Like Blair’s supine one that allowed him to order our
forces to take part in an illegal invasion in the Middle East?

You Marxists have very short memories, when it suits you.

--
Spike

HoarseMann replied to eburtthebike | 19 hours ago
6 likes

If you need cheering up, just watch Hunt squirming when he's forced to admit he flew from London to Manchester - whilst standing in an old railway station, dodging questions about HS2...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m001r3mq/breakfast-02102023 (link is external)

(1h 38min 15s in - only available until tomorrow morning)

On 02/10/2023 10:14 pm, Spike wrote:

> Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:

>> Cycling UK has responded to the speech made by Transport Secretary Mark
>> Harper this morning at the Conservative Party's conference in Manchester
>
>> One eyebrow-raising quote came in the form of claiming "sinister"
>> 15-minute city misuse could see "local councils deciding how often you
>> can go to the shops", a claim former BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis
>> said amounted to "conspiracy".
>
>> "It is sinister. It's also not remotely true," she wrote on Twitter.
>> "Would love to hear from any local council that is now 'deciding how
>> often you can go to the shops' in case we have this wrong? We are now in
>> a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are
>> being 'cancelled', or where we are being saved from 'sinister' practices
>> that don't actually exist. That's called conspiracy."
>
>> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-charity-slams-ill-fated-attempt-win-votes-304235
>
> Well, Emily, why don’t you contact Oxford CC?
>
> QUOTE
>
> Oxford council chiefs “covered up” data that risked “jeopardising” its
> controversial climate zones, which will ban residents from travelling
> directly between suburbs, The Telegraph can disclose.
>
> Six traffic filters, described as “bus gates”, will close off arterial
> roads to cars in an attempt to relieve congestion and promote cycling in a
> trial starting next year.
>
> Local drivers will be given 100-day annual permits to cross the boundaries
> – or 25-day permits if they live outside the city – and fined £70 on other
> days unless they take a detour onto the ring road, with buses, HGVs,
> cyclists and blue-badge holders exempt.
>
> UNQUOTE

"...cross the boundaries..."

And then they complain that their controlling behaviour is being
unfairly characterised.

It is amazing, isn't it, that millions of Blighters seem happy - eager - to ignore Toryspiv predations on their life and well-being in favour of accepting the Toryspiv nominations for various pariahs and scapegoats. Tory voters without the share portfolio or vast swathes of property (that might explain their vote for The Nasty Party of Exploiters and Rentiers) are also happy to vote Tory - for an even more degraded life - as long as they can watch some immigrants, welfare claimants, dark-skinned people or even cyclists villified, pursued and persecuted.

JNugent <jnugent@mail.com> wrote:
> On 02/10/2023 10:14 pm, Spike wrote:
>
>> Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Cycling UK has responded to the speech made by Transport Secretary Mark
>>> Harper this morning at the Conservative Party's conference in Manchester
>>
>>> One eyebrow-raising quote came in the form of claiming "sinister"
>>> 15-minute city misuse could see "local councils deciding how often you
>>> can go to the shops", a claim former BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis
>>> said amounted to "conspiracy".
>>
>>> "It is sinister. It's also not remotely true," she wrote on Twitter.
>>> "Would love to hear from any local council that is now 'deciding how
>>> often you can go to the shops' in case we have this wrong? We are now in
>>> a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are
>>> being 'cancelled', or where we are being saved from 'sinister' practices
>>> that don't actually exist. That's called conspiracy."
>>
>>> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-charity-slams-ill-fated-attempt-win-votes-304235
>>
>> Well, Emily, why don’t you contact Oxford CC?
>>
>> QUOTE
>>
>> Oxford council chiefs “covered up” data that risked “jeopardising” its
>> controversial climate zones, which will ban residents from travelling
>> directly between suburbs, The Telegraph can disclose.
>>
>> Six traffic filters, described as “bus gates”, will close off arterial
>> roads to cars in an attempt to relieve congestion and promote cycling in a
>> trial starting next year.
>>
>> Local drivers will be given 100-day annual permits to cross the boundaries
>> – or 25-day permits if they live outside the city – and fined £70 on other
>> days unless they take a detour onto the ring road, with buses, HGVs,
>> cyclists and blue-badge holders exempt.
>>
>> UNQUOTE

> "...cross the boundaries..."

> And then they complain that their controlling behaviour is being
> unfairly characterised.

Exactly.

--
Spike

JNugent <jnugent@mail.com> wrote:
> On 02/10/2023 10:14 pm, Spike wrote:
>
>> Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>>> Cycling UK has responded to the speech made by Transport Secretary Mark
>>> Harper this morning at the Conservative Party's conference in Manchester
>>
>>> One eyebrow-raising quote came in the form of claiming "sinister"
>>> 15-minute city misuse could see "local councils deciding how often you
>>> can go to the shops", a claim former BBC Newsnight host Emily Maitlis
>>> said amounted to "conspiracy".
>>
>>> "It is sinister. It's also not remotely true," she wrote on Twitter.
>>> "Would love to hear from any local council that is now 'deciding how
>>> often you can go to the shops' in case we have this wrong? We are now in
>>> a brand new world where policies that were never going to happen are
>>> being 'cancelled', or where we are being saved from 'sinister' practices
>>> that don't actually exist. That's called conspiracy."
>>
>>> https://road.cc/content/news/cycling-charity-slams-ill-fated-attempt-win-votes-304235
>>
>> Well, Emily, why don’t you contact Oxford CC?
>>
>> QUOTE
>>
>> Oxford council chiefs “covered up” data that risked “jeopardising” its
>> controversial climate zones, which will ban residents from travelling
>> directly between suburbs, The Telegraph can disclose.
>>
>> Six traffic filters, described as “bus gates”, will close off arterial
>> roads to cars in an attempt to relieve congestion and promote cycling in a
>> trial starting next year.
>>
>> Local drivers will be given 100-day annual permits to cross the boundaries
>> – or 25-day permits if they live outside the city – and fined £70 on other
>> days unless they take a detour onto the ring road, with buses, HGVs,
>> cyclists and blue-badge holders exempt.
>
>> UNQUOTE

> "...cross the boundaries..."

> And then they complain that their controlling behaviour is being
> unfairly characterised.

Unsurprising behaviour from the Neo-Marxists.

--
Spike

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> It is amazing, isn't it, that millions of Blighters seem happy - eager -
> to ignore Toryspiv predations on their life and well-being in favour of
> accepting the Toryspiv nominations for various pariahs and scapegoats.
> Tory voters without the share portfolio or vast swathes of property (that
> might explain their vote for The Nasty Party of Exploiters and Rentiers)
> are also happy to vote Tory - for an even more degraded life - as long as
> they can watch some immigrants, welfare claimants, dark-skinned people or
> even cyclists villified, pursued and persecuted.

Those sentiments are straight out of Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book.

--
Spike

eburtthebike replied to HoarseMann | 2 days ago
7 likes

I quite liked the picture of Mark Harper, Transport Mininster, with his modest audience huddled in a corner so that the photo made it look like it was crowded.

https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/385852899_327570756627782_2252294769217371110_n.jpg

:-0

What on Earth is a "cycling charity"?

Chavs on their chav-bikes are among the *least* charitable and most
self-centred people on the face of said Earth.

On Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:12:06 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
> eburtthebike replied to HoarseMann | 2 days ago
> 7 likes
>
> I quite liked the picture of Mark Harper, Transport Mininster, with his modest audience huddled in a corner so that the photo made it look like it was crowded.
>
> https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/385852899_327570756627782_2252294769217371110_n.jpg
>
> :-0

The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)

On 21/10/2023 02:49 pm, Simon Mason wrote:
> On Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:12:06 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
>> eburtthebike replied to HoarseMann | 2 days ago
>> 7 likes
>>
>> I quite liked the picture of Mark Harper, Transport Mininster, with his modest audience huddled in a corner so that the photo made it look like it was crowded.
>>
>> https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/385852899_327570756627782_2252294769217371110_n.jpg
>>
>> :-0
>
> The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)

Thank you for answering my very recent post in this thread, otherwise
dormant since 06/10/23.

It's amazing that you managed to do it without reading my post.

And even more amazing, if you are going to be your usual mendacious self
and deny that it was a response to mine, that Thunderbird has it marked
as a treed response to my post of 14:33 today.

On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 2:49:18 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
> On Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:12:06 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
> > eburtthebike replied to HoarseMann | 2 days ago
> > 7 likes
> >
> > I quite liked the picture of Mark Harper, Transport Mininster, with his modest audience huddled in a corner so that the photo made it look like it was crowded.
> >
> > https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/385852899_327570756627782_2252294769217371110_n.jpg
> >
> > :-0
> The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)

Although they're still in denial mode. :-)

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8-bzU3WQAE8hag?format=jpg&name=medium

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 2:49:18 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
>> On Friday, October 6, 2023 at 7:12:06 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
>>> eburtthebike replied to HoarseMann | 2 days ago
>>> 7 likes
>>>
>>> I quite liked the picture of Mark Harper, Transport Mininster, with his
>>> modest audience huddled in a corner so that the photo made it look like it was crowded.
>>>
>>> https://cdn.road.cc/sites/default/files/styles/main_width/public/385852899_327570756627782_2252294769217371110_n.jpg
>>>
>>>
>>> :-0
>> The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)
>
> Although they're still in denial mode. :-)
>
> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8-bzU3WQAE8hag?format=jpg&name=medium

Starmer will have a hard time controlling the Loony Left in his party, even
more so if they are elected.

Do you think he will try for an illegal war somewhere?

The Labour Party has form for doing that.

--
Spike

On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 5:06:26 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:

> > >
> > > :-0
> > The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)
> Although they're still in denial mode. :-)
>
> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8-bzU3WQAE8hag?format=jpg&name=medium

She's "education" secretary, FFS! :-)

Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 5:06:26 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
>
>>>>
>>>> :-0
>>> The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)
>> Although they're still in denial mode. :-)
>>
>> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8-bzU3WQAE8hag?format=jpg&name=medium
>
> She's "education" secretary, FFS! :-)

Anyone know what Mason’s point is?

--
Spike

On 22/10/2023 01:51 pm, Spike wrote:

> Simon Mason <swldxer1958@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 5:06:26 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
>>
>>>>>
>>>>> :-0
>>>> The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)
>>> Although they're still in denial mode. :-)
>>>
>>> https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8-bzU3WQAE8hag?format=jpg&name=medium
>>
>> She's "education" secretary, FFS! :-)
>
> Anyone know what Mason’s point is?

Of course not.

He doesn't even understand what education actually is.

On Sunday, October 22, 2023 at 11:35:39 AM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
> On Saturday, October 21, 2023 at 5:06:26 PM UTC+1, Simon Mason wrote:
>
> > > >
> > > > :-0
> > > The Tories have been hammered twice at the polls since then. :-)
> > Although they're still in denial mode. :-)
> >
> > https://pbs.twimg.com/media/F8-bzU3WQAE8hag?format=jpg&name=medium
> She's "education" secretary, FFS! :-)

No swing to Labour she insists - it was >20% though in fact.