Tag Archives: Rishi Sunak

Rishi Sunak Speech and 20 mph Limits in London

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Rishi Sunak’s speech at the close of the Conservative Party Conference is surely to be welcomed by all those who use our roads and want rational economic decisions to be taken. It included this statement on HS2: “I am ending this long running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project. And in its place we will reinvest every single penny, £36 billion, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, and across the country. This means £36 billion of investment in the projects that will make a real difference across our country. We’ll help Andy Street extend the West Midlands Metro… Build the Leeds tram, electrify the North Wales main line…Upgrade the A1, the A2, the A5, the M6 and we’ll connect our Union with the A75 boosting links between Scotland and Northern Ireland. We’ll fund the Shipley bypass, the Blyth relief road and deliver 70 other road schemes. We’ll resurface roads across the country”.

So we should be getting some improvements to congested major roads even if money is to be wasted on tram systems which are rarely justified on a cost/benefit ratio.

Meanwhile in London Sadiq Khan is putting up two fingers to the Government’s commitment to halt irrational 20 mph speed limits. Transport for London (TfL) will introduce 65km of new 20mph speed limits within the Royal Borough of Greenwich, the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Lewisham, Southwark, Wandsworth, Merton, Bromley and Lambeth. The new speed limits will be introduced in stages over the last four months of the year.

TfL is also working with the Met Police to increase their capacity to take enforcement action against drivers and riders who speed. They are currently on track to be able to take action on a million speeding offences by 2024/5, to provide a more effective deterrent to speeding.

A 20mph limit will be introduced on sections of the following roads:

A232: West Wickham High Street (scheme to go live in September)

A205: St John Wilson Street, Well Hall Road (scheme to go live in October)

A4: Cromwell Road, Brompton Road (scheme to go live in October)

A3220: Pembroke Road, Holland Road, Warwick Road, Redcliffe Gardens (scheme to go live in October)

A20: Eltham Road, Lee High Road, Lewisham Way (scheme to go live in November)

A202: Queens Road, Peckham High Street, Camberwell Church Street, Camberwell New Road (scheme to go live in December)

A2: New Cross Road, Old Kent Road (scheme to go live in December)

A201: New Kent Road (scheme to go live in December)

A100: Tower Bridge Road (scheme to go live in December)

A200: Jamaica Road (scheme to go live in December)

A3: Clapham Road, Kennington Park Road (scheme to go live in December)

A3204: Kennington Lane (scheme to go live in December)

A203: Stockwell Road (scheme to go live in December)

A23: Camberwell New Road, Streatham Hill, Streatham High Road (scheme to go live in December)

A214: Tooting Bec Road (Scheme to go live in December)

A24: Clapham Common South Side, Balham High Road, Upper Tooting Road, High Street Colliers Wood (scheme to go live in December)

A205: Woolwich Common, South Circular Road, Catford Road, Stanstead Road, London Road, Thurlow Road, Christchurch Road, Poynders Road, Dulwich Common (scheme to go live in December)

Comment: This is an irrational and unjustified attack on drivers. Speed of traffic has already been considerably reduced in recent years in London with no obvious impact on road casualties.

Rishi Sunak speech in full: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/uk-news/rishi-sunaks-full-speech-conservative-27843617

TfL Press Release: https://tfl.gov.uk/info-for/media/press-releases/2023/september/tfl-to-launch-65km-of-new-lower-speed-limit-schemes-to-cut-road-danger-across-the-capital-and-save-lives

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The War on the Motorist and New A20 Speed Limit

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It has been widely reported that Rishi Sunak is to announce new motorist-friendly policies that might inhibit the introduction of more LTNs, restrict more 20 mph speed limits and times of bus lanes might be relaxed. On BBC Radio Manchester he argued that prioritising driving was the best policy as the vast majority of journeys are made by car. He has that right at least so why are we spending billions of pounds on HS2 which will be used by very few people? It should surely be scrapped.

Mark Harper, Transport Minister, said this on Twitter: ”Too often the private car is vilified by Labour politicians and sneered at by the metropolitan bubble, when it has been one of the most powerful forces for personal freedom & economic growth”. But will this fine rhetoric which will no doubt be lapped up at the Conservative Party Conference this week be followed up by action to control local councillors who introduce silly speed limits. Or Sadiq Khan in London or Mark Drakeford in Wales (petition against default 20 limit in Wales now has more than 450,000 signatures but is still being ignored!).

More details in this Government statement: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-announces-new-long-term-plan-to-back-drivers

If the Conservatives follow through on this agenda it will certainly win them some votes.

A20 Speed Limits

Meanwhile the latest imposition of an unreasonable speed limit has been imposed in the last few days on the A20 between Crittalls Corner in Sidcup and the BP service station/McDonalds before the Swanley M25 junction (eastbound only). The speed limit has been reduced to 40 from 70 and signs for average speed cameras put up and 40 repeater signs also so presumably this is a permanent change. It is unknown why this change has been made although it has been suggested that it is due to road flooding which requires some work on the road which may not be done until May 2024. However it is a ridiculously low speed limit for such a dual-carriageway.

The country is grinding to a halt because of unreasonable speed limits which will mean enormous numbers of drivers will get fines even when driving at safe speeds.

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Rishi’s Speech and IC Vehicle Sales

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In Rishi Sunak’s recent speech he is clearly still committed to “net zero” by 2050 to tackle climate change, even though the UK cutting carbon emissions is unlikely to have any significant impact on the worldwide figures. It’s a pointless gesture which will mean we incur enormous costs which the public has not been informed about and to which they have certainly not consented.

New sales of oil/petrol powered vehicles were to be banned from 2030, ahead of most other countries, when electric vehicles are still more expensive, don’t hold their resale values and are inflexible in use.

Rishi’s speech is seen as a vote winner but it’s in essence a more pragmatic approach to reducing carbon emissions and relieving the burden on certain households.

It’s certainly worth reading his speech in full (link below) which was only reported in simplistic sound bites in the national media. He concludes by saying: “We are going to change the way our politics works. We are going to make different decisions. We won’t take the easy way out. There will be resistance, and we will meet it”. That surely means he is going to face down the idealists who don’t live in the real world.

But will Rishi manage to take the Conservative Party and Civil Service with him? That is the key question the answer to which we will see in due course. That’s assuming the Labour Party don’t win the next election and reverse the direction of travel.

My view is that this speech is well argued and veers well from extremes. But he will have difficulty convincing the environmental fanatics who have not been listening to reason for some time.

But the postponement of the IC sales deadline is not as simple as it appears. There will be limits on the number of IC vehicles that car manufacturers can sell. The rules will require 22pc of cars sold by manufacturers to be electric from next year. By 2030, the quota will gradually rise to 80pc.

How will manufacturers meet the targets? No doubt by manipulating the price of vehicles. They can make IC vehicles so expensive that few people will want to buy them. So if you think that you will be able to continue to buy new diesel/petrol cars you need to think again, unless you are very wealthy.

Rishi Sunak speech in full: https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-speech-on-net-zero-20-september-2023

Telegraph article: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/09/21/four-in-five-cars-sold-electric-2030-petrol-ban-delay/

Roger Lawson

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Rishi Sunak Criticises ULEZ Expansion and Scrappage Scheme Announced

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At Prime Minister’s Question Time Rishi Sunak said Sadiq Khan should “listen to the public” and scrap the planned expansion of the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) to all of London. He also said that it is the “overwhelming” view of London residents that the levy should not be expanded.

My response on twitter was “Rishi Sunak and the Government have the power to stop the ULEZ expansion so why don’t they do so?”.

Scrappage Scheme

Meanwhile TfL have announced some details of a scrappage scheme to help some owners of non-ULEZ compliant vehicles. See https://tfl.gov.uk/modes/driving/ultra-low-emission-zone/scrappage-schemes

But it’s unlikely to help many people. Only those car owners receiving social security benefits or are registered disabled will qualify and the maximum grant is £2,000. You can’t buy a new car, or even a decent second-hand one for that money!

It may help sole traders, small businesses and charities with old diesel vans and buses where the allowance is higher.

There is also a mention of some vehicles which might qualify for a “retrofit” that will make them compliant but it seems unlikely to be of use to most owners of older diesel cars. However you can register an interest in a retrofit solution for your vehicle.

Roger Lawson

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Drivers_London

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