Tory roads u-turn will cause delays, crashes and cost millions

Rishi Sunak’s latest safety and environmental u-turn, a proposal to remove local councils' powers to introduce 20mph speed limits, could result in thousands of accidents on local roads, as crashes have been reduced by as much as 40% in 20mph areas.

This is just the latest flip from this flop of a Conservative government on the issue. Government guidance from 2018 encourages local authorities to implement schemes in residential streets and village centres; but later that year they said they had no plans to implement it nationally. In 2020 they committed to introducing it as the default, but have since refused to introduce any legislation to do so – despite Wales and Scotland doing so.

Lisa Smart, Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Hazel Grove constituency, said: “This Government needs to listen to everyone – and I hear time and time again on the doorstep that road safety is a top concern in our area.

“These endless u-turns are just throwing money away. The Government drove the introduction of low-traffic neighbourhoods for years, spending £200 million on pushing them through in 2021 – now they are blocking their introduction.”

At the same time that the Government is throwing away road safety schemes, there are huge proposed cuts to the public transport system in the form of ticket office closures across the rail network and the removal of the Northern Powerhouse rail line through Bradford, and they are dragging their feet bringing in up-to-date guidance on speed cameras. People are being forced onto the roads because they have no choice, while attempts to make them safer are being cut.

Lisa continued: “We just want road safety measures that work. We’d be in a much better place if Rishi Sunak’s Government spent more time on making sure local communities can introduce 20mph zones safely and effectively. 20mph schemes are safer, make driving cheaper, and reduce environmental damage.

“They should be win–win, but this Tory policy roundabout just means a clown show on our roads.”