Transport Insights

This article from the Sunday Telegraph Labour drops plans to restrict LTNs in ‘secret war on motorists’ is on such dodgy ground that the journalist (or the sub-editors) have used scare quotes around the fictional concept in the opening paragraph.

Labour has renewed its “war on motorists” by dropping plans to limit new Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and 20mph zones.

There’s a laughable set of quotes from Richard Holden, now shadow transport secretary, claiming that not taking forward Tory policy amounts not just to a “war on motorists”, but a “secret” one:

“Conservatives led the charge against unfair and over-zealous enforcement but our work has been ripped up in underhand attacks without any public consultation or manifesto pledge.

“This is a kick in the teeth to motorists, set to punish beleaguered local high streets and will slam the brakes on the economy even more than Rachel Reeves has done so far.”

The paper points out that Rishi Sunak announced a “Plan for Drivers” in October 2023, which would have made it harder for local councils to introduce what it calls “anti-car schemes” after “concerns that councils have been railroading through LTNs on the back of support by green and pro-cycling groups”.

Now “Ministers have now confirmed that the draft guidance, which was not formalised in time for last year’s general election, has been effectively shelved.”

Lilian Greenwood, the roads minister, said that as a result, work had been “put on hold and the Government is now considering appropriate next steps”.

“As has always been the case, local authorities are responsible for managing their roads and are accountable to their communities,” she said.

It’s a total non-story and a classic example of the rage bait that the comprises most of the Telegraph’s output these days.

I reported 10 months ago what a top Department for Transport official told me on the record about the Plan for Drivers and specifically the previous government’s draft guidance on LTNs:

‘The draft guidance was draft, and we consulted on it. It’s still draft and therefore it doesn’t have status; it’s draft.

‘Ministers are deciding what they wish to do. At the moment the guidance is work in progress. What ministers have said, very clearly, is that they think that local authorities are best placed to make decisions.’

Similarly, in the Standard, former West Midlands Cycling and Walking Commissioner Adam Tranter notes that:

The news that Labour have decided not to proceed with the previous Conservative Government’s “Plan For Drivers” should be welcomed, but should also hardly be a surprise.