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STOP SADIQ’S WAR ON DRIVERS Legacy
article on Sadiq Khan’s Manifesto
for the 2021 London Mayor
election. Khan would not have been elected if he had properly
publicised his vicious proposals. His 2024 Manifesto was
bland, even giving the impression he would not be introducing
pay-per-mile road pricing in the period 2024-28. |
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Not one to miss opportunities for self-promotion, Khan
crows: “The Tories tried to force an
extension to the Congestion Charge
to the North and South Circulars….But
I stood firm and stopped [it] from happening.” (p33) That’s hypocritical, given his attempts to sneak in
more road charging in the Mayor’s
Transport Strategy (MTS) in 2017 – thwarted by campaigners pulling out
the stops. More hypocrisy over ‘not punishing Londoners’... ‘Last
year saw social distancing, and
low-traffic neighbourhoods introduced as temporary under emergency guidance’. He threatens to make them permanent ‘where successful’ (which
you can bet they will be hyped as despite assurances of consultation). (p98) Road space will be removed via timed changes to streets across the capital through ‘School
Streets’, Play Streets ‘Summer Streeteries’ and ‘Lunchtime Streets’ with
flimsy holy-holy excuses. Khan will also explore options for future car-free days in central London.
(p100) With a hint of 24 hour, 7 day a week bus lanes Khan promises more bus priority schemes. (p98)
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A WASTE
OF SPACE… Many people, including cyclists, are appalled at the
way that cycling has been used as a blunt instrument for motorist-bashing.
The loss of road space open to everyone is threatened by the push for the rapid expansion of London’s cycle network, cycleways on main roads and
low-traffic routes on local streets. (p99) More cycling will require more cycle parking, with the
threat of removing car parking spaces previously on our radar in 2017.
(p99) In the past, cycling has not
grown in line with hyped projections. When fighting local 20mph zones in 2015-17, taxi
drivers were appalled at the prospect of mind-numbing 20mph on main roads.
Yet Khan wants to accelerate the roll
out of 20mph speed limits on the TfL road network (TLRN. p100) Yes – London’s
main roads like the A3, A12 & A406. What planet is he on? Not a
single cyclist spoken to locally in a 2016 campaign supported 20mph limits as
they would make it more difficult for drivers to overtake.
…said the Mayor, chauffeured around
in a £300,000 Range Rover. HEALTHY CYNICISM … Hampering travel round the clock would not be good for
providers or passengers of bus and coach services either. Khan already claims
to be concerned about ‘bus driver fatigue’. Overall, Khan’s wider Manifesto health credentials wear
thin; more platitudes than bankable commitments, Having more water fountains,
mental health first-aiders in schools and piloting ready to eat fruit at a
station sound more like gimmicks to fill the space. ‘Healthier travel’ looks like another big stick with
which to beat drivers. Khan’s interest in Air Quality is
hypocritical given that, like his predecessor, ‘Green Ken’, he has laid on extravagant firework displays
to appeal to the masses. |
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RIPPING UP THE ROADS YOU’VE PAID FOR … ‘Offering
everyone access to nature within a 10 minute walk’ is mentioned in the same
breath as ‘green
corridors’ and ‘pocket parks’ (another trendy excuse for cannibalising road
space, p57). Khan’s TfL provided a speaker for a
‘Grey to Green’ session at the CPRE London AGM on 20 May 2021. The speaker confirmed
plans to reduce private
vehicle use to 20% of all journeys by 2041; and to convert 2342km (1540
miles) of London streets into green space. An annual maintenance cost of £136m on top of a capital
cost of £176m would speculatively be justified by ‘billions’ in ‘health
benefits’ Amazingly CPRE talk about reusing
car parks for housing and want every
London borough to repurpose at least 30 streets for parks, play spaces,
etc. His other policies can only
aggravate congestion – for instance if TfL reduce ‘polluting’ traffic detouring via green spaces, such as the Royal Parks, it
will only add to stresses on busier roads. (p57) Outer London boroughs will also be considered for trams. Former Mayor Ken Livingstone’s
policy was condemned in West London because the sheer length of trams would
seriously hold up traffic. MONEY,
MONEY, MONEY…. Like Livingstone, Khan is set to expand his charging
zone (ULEZ. p55) He will monitor his road-charging
schemes for ‘benefits’ (e.g. over congestion) and identify where further action is needed.
The motivation may be financial. Khan is eying the
£500m of VED Londoners pay to the Government every year, “If the Government refuses, I will ask TfL
to consider other ways of raising income”. This would be to make up for the ‘loss’ of VED
(which has never been his), although the new money-raking would be hyped in
terms of addressing congestion and air quality. (p34) The environment could also be used
as an excuse to work with politically correct local authorities, to deliver zero-emission zones (most likely
car-exclusion zones). Since getting re-elected, Khan has also been
engineering a confrontation over funding in a letter
to Transport Secretary Grant Shapps. Khan moans that a £1Bn shortfall means significant
delays to "active travel schemes
and infrastructure enhancements" (which sounds like anti-car
schemes?). This could mean that the ‘temporary’ Khangestion Charge rise
becomes permanent. He adds that to avoid a shortfall of
£500m a year from April 2023 would require at least one of ● an
extension to the Congestion Charge zone to the North and South Circular
Roads; ● annual fare
increases of 17%; ● the
introduction of a charge for cars entering London; ● a £130-£165
Council Tax increase on Band D properties. …Khan asks Shapps which of the above options did he
want to force on London. (Maybe we should ask the same question of Khan.) |
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HOPING
WE DON’T THINK TWICE…? Other ideas need scrutinising. Some boroughs already
have laws on engine idling (p36), but if the alternative is continual
stop-start on Khan’s go-slow roads, it could run some batteries down and even
cause breakdowns that aggravated congestion? Khan muses: ‘how essential some journeys are, and we
must do everything we can to help
people travel to medical appointments smoothly. I will ask TfL to trial NHS
patient transport vehicles and non-blue-light ambulances in bus lanes in
central London. This could reduce delays in the NHS’. (p98) But what about the congestion-causing cycle
lanes/blocked off road lanes that delay ambulances and road humps that jar
patients, Mr Mayor?
Don’t take ‘the wrath
of Khan’ lying down.
Please help spread the
word and - better still - actively support us in calling for a
fairer deal for drivers who already pay billions a year in taxes. Campaign articles index and data protection
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