Tories Still Prosecuting LTN Culture War
It appears the Tories are still attempting to prosecute a culture war over Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and other sustainable travel, despite their defeat at the general election in July 2024.
Written Parliamentary Questions
On 30th July 2024, Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Helen Whately asked the following question:
‘To ask the Secretary of State for Transport whether she has plans to increase the number of low traffic neighbourhoods’.
The question was answered by Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood:
‘The installation of low traffic neighbourhoods and other traffic management measures is a decision for local councils, and the local communities they serve’.
There were similar questions from Whately about:
In each case, the Labour Minister’s answer stressed that these were matters for local authorities.
On pay-per-mile road pricing, the answer was that the DfT has not undertaken or commissioned any research since 2011.
Unprincipled Opportunism
Transport is important to everyone, and the current system creates huge problems. Issues include greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, congestion and public health.
We need a rational debate in order to agree on solutions to knotty problems. Unfortunately, the UK’s dysfunctional political system does not enable that.
In an act of unprincipled opportunism when he was Prime Minister, Mr Sunak disregarded all the issues that need to be solved, and brought out his laughable Plan for Drivers.
He was trying to appeal to people’s worst instincts, hoping to grub up votes with a populist policy that worked against the best interests of this country.
Thankfully it did not work, and the Conservatives lost the general election. They slid from 372 MPs to just 121.
Nevertheless, they appear to be intent on persisting with their failed anti-active travel policies.
Although they are now out of government, their approach is still having a negative effect. Labour’s answers to Whately’s written questions, stressing the role of local authorities not national government, show that the new party of government is wary of a Tory culture war on walking and cycling.
The Tory culture war against active travel is just one way in which they have served the country badly over recent years. Here are some of the others.
Damaging Brexit
Brexit illustrates some of the features of Tory politics over recent years.
It was never in the interests of the country, but Boris Johnson, Michael Gove and others saw that it could be in their personal interests, and the Conservative Party as a whole decided to ride the tiger of Brexit when they believed it was in their party’s interests.
Personal interests first, party interests second, national interests not considered at all.
A lot of lies were told about Brexit, many of them by Boris Johnson. The Conservative Party appeared to have no qualms about being led by a man of such little integrity. It was only when he became unpopular that they dumped him.
Sowing Division
Sowing division, rather than attempting to govern for the nation as a whole, has been a hallmark of the Tories for a long time now.
So it was that after the Brexit referendum there was no attempt to recognise the fact that the vote had been very close, and to find a compromise that would more or less satisfy everyone.
Instead, we had the Tories’ “will of the people” propaganda. If you were for Brexit, you were a people; if you were against, you were not a people and you didn’t count.
Party Funding
We have a bad system where private individuals and companies fund political parties.
That leaves all parties open to corruption, but it is the Conservatives who are most vulnerable to the corrupting influence of money.
Property developers are among the biggest Tory donors. Did their cash have an influence on Tory policy towards housing development, including energy efficiency standards? It is hard to prove definitively.
If you run a highly polluting business you want political influence so as to prevent your business from being regulated, to avoid being made to pay the costs of the pollution.
Donating money to a party in the hope of getting what you want could be far cheaper than being regulated. If you give enough cash to the Tories, you can join the “Advisory Board” and get access to Ministers. The name Advisory Board suggests that you get to influence government policy. Should this be allowed in a modern European democracy?
To avoid the appearance of or potential for corruption, we should change the funding model of UK politics, and bring in state funding of parties.
Covid Contracts
The VIP lane saw Covid contracts going disproportionately to Conservative Party donors and contacts.
If this had happened in Africa or Asia, we would have called it corruption. It should not have happened in the UK.
Global Heating
Global heating is the biggest challenge we face. It should be dealt with on a cross-party basis.
Big changes are needed now to stop runaway global heating. They involve costs, and different ways of doing everyday activities. As long as there is well-informed debate, the changes don’t need to be controversial and divisive.
Unfortunately, the Conservatives see an opportunity for party political advantage in opposing the changes we need. Mr Sunak has been prominent here, licensing new oil and gas, slashing active travel funding, and pushing back the phase-out of petrol and diesel cars.
When we need grown-up, cross-party work, we get unprincipled opportunism.
Immigration and Rwanda
There is a genuine debate to be had about immigration. What we don’t need is politicians stoking fears and prejudices, and pandering to people’s worst instincts, in the hope of party political advantage.
The Rwanda scheme was never workable nor morally acceptable.
It showed the Conservative Party seeking to persecute the poorest and most vulnerable in the hope of grubbing up some votes.
One of the Tories’ political insights is that you can gain electoral advantage not just by promising voters what they want, but by committing to be nasty to certain minorities and out-groups.
It is an insight that they should forget about, because it is not a decent way of doing politics.
Time for Fundamental Change to the Conservative Party’s Outlook and Actions
The Conservatives are out of power but they still have some influence on British politics, and there is always the lurking threat of their return.
Now is the right time for root and branch reform of the party, its outlook and its actions. Instead of having a baleful influence on British politics, it could contribute positively in future.
To get to that point, though, fundamental change is needed.