Reform Party Against Clean Air

The Reform Party are against clean air, it transpires from their manifesto. Their transport proposals are all regressive, with no solutions to the problems of the 2020s.

Further, there is barely a cigarette paper between Reform and the Tories on Transport.

Barely a Cigarette Paper between Reform and the Tories on Transport

Both Reform and the Tories are keen to appeal to people’s worst, most selfish instincts. Both parties are saying what they think some mainly older people want to hear. Both parties are determined to ignore the evidence on global heating, air pollution, congestion, and diseases of inactivity. Both parties refuse to engage with reality.

If the Conservatives were a serious party, they wouldn’t be scrapping in the gutter with Reform scrapping in a contest to see who can come up with the worst transport policies.

There aren’t enough voters with an appetite for these backward transport policies, and certainly not sufficient for two populist parties to share.

Reform’s manifesto is light on detail; it has a single A4 page on transport and utilities infrastructure.

What does it say?

The “War on Drivers”

In Britain, the red carpet is rolled out for drivers, from Land’s End to John O’Groats.

Villages, towns and cities are organised around the motor car, to the detriment of residents. When driving, we don’t pay the external costs we impose on society.

Do Reform recognise this? Are they promoting active travel and public transport? No.

There is no mention of active travel in their manifesto.

They try to stoke a culture war by making the false claim that there is a “war on drivers”. It is pathetic.

They are against clean air, and want legislation to ban clean air zones like ULEZ. They are also against safe, pleasant streets where people live, and seek to outlaw Low Traffic Neighbourhoods.

In the dystopian society imagined by Farage’s mob, drivers would create more danger on the roads as 20mph would be scrapped except where ‘safety is critical’.

This sounds very much like the ‘outside schools and hospitals’ nonsense that the Conservatives have been plugging – as though people magically appear in outside schools and hospitals without needing to walk or cycle along other streets to get there.

Scrap Net Zero

Another aspect of Reform’s culture war is their wish to “Scrap Net Zero objectives”.

No futher details are given on the Transport page.

Temperatures in Italy are set to hit 44C this week. Several people have died in Greece due to the high temperatures, and there are wildfires in Turkey.

Everywhere you look, the negative consequences of global heating are there for all to see.

What about Reform Party? They can’t see the impacts of the climate crisis because they have their heads in the sand.

Other Proposals

Reform want to scrap HS2 – Phase 1 that is already under way. They propose to improve existing road and rail links.

In a very rare outburst of sense, their manifesto states ‘integrated services are critical’.

Overall Impression

The overall impression of the Reform manifesto is that it has been cobbled together in 5 minutes, and is not a serious document.

The sketchy transport proposals ignore all current problems and solutions. They are an attempt to appeal to people who wish it was still the 1950s, when few people thought about global heating and the motor car seemed like the future.