Rishi Sunak attacks ‘hare-brained’ traffic schemes and vows to ‘slam brakes on the war on motorists’

Published

12 months ago

September 30, 2023

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Rishi Sunak has said he is “slamming the brakes on the war on motorists” – with the government confirming that councils will be stopped from enforcing blanket 20mph speed limits.

Low-traffic neighbourhoods are also in the prime minister’s crosshairs and will only be permitted where there is local consent.

The Department for Transport added that it plans to stop council implementing so-called “15-minute cities” amid fears they “aggressively restrict where people can drive”.

Beth Rigby analysis: Can Team Rishi turn things around?

Speaking to The Sun, Mr Sunak described such schemes as “hare-brained” – and claimed penalising drivers going about their daily lives “doesn’t reflect the values of Britain”.

The PM’s announcement comes as the Conservative Party conference gets under way this weekend in Manchester.

Mr Sunak will be hoping to capitalise on the advantage he gained during the Uxbridge by-election, where London’s controversial Ultra Low Emission Zone was a key issue on the doorstep.

In an announcement, the government said its new long-term government plan aims to support the 50 million people who hold a driving licence in the UK.

Other measures will include efforts to simplify paying for parking by phone, charging utility firms that dig up busy roads at peak times, and a consultation on motorcycles using bus lanes.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: “Too often the private car is vilified when it has been one of the most powerful forces for personal freedom and economic growth.

“That’s why the government is taking the long-term, necessary decision to back the motorists who keep our country moving.”

Mr Harper, who will set out further details in a speech to Tory members on Monday, said this plan will complement “continued investment in public transport”.

It comes hot on the heels of the PM delaying a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars until 2035 – a target that was previously intended for 2030.

The announcement of that policy had been dismissed as “an act of weakness from a desperate, directionless prime minister” by Labour.

Bank of Canada just says no to retail CBDC in reshuffling of priorities

Published

10 hours ago

September 20, 2024

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Bank of Canada just says no to retail CBDC in reshuffling of priorities

Regulating and speeding up payments without a CBDC are more important to the Canadian central bank.

SEC approves options for BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin ETF

Published

11 hours ago

September 20, 2024

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<div>SEC approves options for BlackRock's spot Bitcoin ETF</div>

The SEC notice seemed to be an industry first after the commission approved the listing and trading of spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds on US exchanges in January.

Farage: It’s possible I could become PM

Published

11 hours ago

September 20, 2024

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Nigel Farage has spoken about his aspirations as Reform UK party leader and insists he could become prime minister.

He told Sky’s political correspondent Darren McCaffrey the prospect of taking over at Number 10 at some point “may not be probable, but it’s certainly possible”.

In an interview on the sidelines of the Reform UK annual conference in Birmingham, he also described his intention to change the party and make it more democratic.

“I don’t want it to be a one man party. Look, this is not a presidential system. If it was, I might think differently about it. But no, it’s not. We have to be far more broadly based,” he said.

He also accepted there were issues with how the party was perceived by some during the general election.

“We had a problem,” he admitted. “Those that wished us harm use the racist word. And we had candidates who genuinely were.”

Earlier the party leader and Clacton MP gave his keynote speech at the conference, explaining how they intend to win even more seats at the next general election.

He also called out the prime minister for accepting free gifts and mocked the candidates in the Tory leadership race.

But he turned to more serious points, too – promising that Reform UK will “be vetting candidates rigorously at all levels” in future.

Addressing crowds in Birmingham, Mr Farage said the party has not got “time” or “room” for “a few extremists to wreck the work of a party that now has 80,000 members”.

Farage says Reform UK needs to ‘grow up’

By Darren McCaffrey, political correspondent in Birmingham

Reform and Nigel Farage can hardly believe their success.

Perhaps unsurprising, given they received over four million votes and now have five MPs.

But today this is a party that claims it has bigger ambitions – that it’s fighting for power.

Having taken millions of votes from the Conservatives, the party thinks it can do so with Labour voters too.

Reform finished second in 98 constituencies, 89 of them are Labour seats.

But it is a big ask, not least of all because it is a party still dominated by its controversial leader and primarily by one majority issue – migration.

Nigel Farage says the party needs to grow up and professionalise if it has a chance of further success.

This is undoubtedly true but if Reform is going to carry on celebrating, they know it also has to broaden its policy appeal beyond the overwhelming concern of its members.

“The infant that Reform UK was has been growing up,” he said in his speech and pointed towards the success of the Liberal Democrats at the general election.

He told delegates his party has to “model ourselves on the Liberal Democrats” which secured 72 seats on a smaller popular vote share than Reform UK.

He said: “The Liberal Democrats put literature and leaflets through doors repeatedly in their target areas, and despite the fact they haven’t got any policies at all. In fact, the whole thing’s really rather vacuous, isn’t it? But they manage with a vote much lower than ours to win 72 seats in parliament.”

Reform won more than four million votes in July, and 14% of the vote share – more than the Lib Dems.