Image: Cycling UK
Shadow transport secretary Andy McDonald has claimed that a future Labour government would spend £10 per person, annually, on cycling and walking.
Speaking at a Cycling UK rally in Brighton, where the 2017 Labour Party conference is currently being held, Mr McDonald said Labour is ‘committed to revolutionising our transport system through cycling and walking’.
Mr McDonald added that investing in cycling and walking can ‘holistically address’ issues such as air pollution and congestion in an ‘efficient, cost-effective way’.
The rally was organised alongside Bricycles (Brighton and Hove Cycling Campaign) and in support of the Space for Cycling campaign, which aims to create conditions under which anyone can cycle anywhere.
The £10 per head figure quoted by Mr McDonald echoes the amount recommended in the Get Britain Cycling report, produced by the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group in 2013.
It is estimated that current Government annual spending on cycling (excluding London) is £1.90 per person – although this figure rises to £6.70 when including London and spending by local authorities.
Mr McDonald said: "Our country is blighted by illegal air pollution, crippling congestion and a public health crisis. Cycling and walking can holistically address all these issues in an efficient, cost-effective way.
"Labour is committed to ensuring that potential is met and is committed to revolutionising our transport system through cycling and walking."
Fabian Hamilton, Labour MP and treasurer of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, said: "As a long standing member of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group, I am thrilled to hear our shadow transport secretary pledge £10 per head for cycling and walking if elected.
“We need a radical shift in our transport system and we are committed to making sure that happens."
Tom Guha, Space for Cycling campaigner for Cycling UK, said: “This is a landmark announcement from the Labour Party. Around the country, local political leaders have been doing their best to invest properly in cycling to unlock the many benefits it can bring.
“However, it is national funding like this that is necessary if we are to see the cycling revolution we so desperately need."
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Categories: Cycling, Pedestrians.
“Our country is blighted by illegal air pollution, crippling congestion and a public health crisis” For most of the population, I would suggest that the first two at least, are not an everyday problem. Perhaps he meant to say “London and other major cities, but mainly London.”
Hugh Jones, Cheshire
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