Sunak Wants More Rat-Running Traffic on Residential Streets
Sunak wants more rat-running through traffic on residential streets throughout the UK.
He isn’t interested in quality of life for residents, quiet and pleasant residential areas, or clean air. He wants streets that could be safe for walking and cycling to be made dangerous by drivers.
The BBC says that unelected Prime Minister Sunak has told the DfT to review Low Traffic Neighbourhood policies, presumably with a view to creating more high-traffic neighbourhoods.
‘I just want to make sure people know that I’m on their side in supporting them to use their cars to do all the things that matter to them.’
We know that transport is the biggest single source of greenhouse gas emissions in the UK, at 24% of the total.
With Greece on fire, and extreme heat in many other parts of the world, we urgently need to reduce emissions. We can’t be betting the farm on cars – we have to reduce our reliance on them.
Sunak is not on your Side
If you’re someone who wants:
- quiet streets
- where children can play and
- where everyone can safely walk and ride bikes
Sunak is not on your side.
If you’re someone who wants:
- to live on a planet with a habitable climate
- to limit heatwaves and floods
- the UK to honour its agreed climate targets and
- the UK to reduce emissions from transport in accordance with its obligations
Sunak is not on your side.
If you are:
- in favour of rat-running on residential streets
- pro-pollution
- pro-traffic danger
- someone who believes that cars should be the only option for getting around town because cycling is too dangerous
then you are not thinking straight, but Sunak appears to be on your side.
Rat-Running is not as Popular as Sunak Appears to Believe
The modal filters on Beech Grove in Harrogate won 66% support before North Yorkshire Council ripped them out.
34% of the vote is not enough to win a General Election, even if it is well above the government’s current poll rating.
Sunak appears to be set on presenting himself as the Pollution Candidate, which means he will lose the coming election – and he will richly deserve to do so.
Neither the country nor the world can tolerate another 4 or 5 years of backward-looking, polluting policies designed to further the interests of vested fossil fuel interests. Climate breakdown is here, and we’re out of time. We need positive change now.
At worst, we have 543 days of Sunak left. The General Election is a huge opportunity to vote the Pollution Candidate and his cynical, wrong-headed policies OUT.
Beech Grove
The local Councillor for the area that includes Beech Grove is Sam Gibbs, who works as Sunak’s election agent. At local elections in May 2023, Gibbs produced a scam election leaflet made to look like a council tax demand.
Since Gibbs and Sunak work together, they are likely to have discussed Beech Grove.
Was Sunak directly involved in ruining Harrogate’s only meaningful active travel scheme in decades? I have no evidence either way, but it is certainly possible.