Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

news

Prime Minister’s confusion over cycling funding reflects Downing Street “chaos” says MP

Number 10 says Boris Johnson got figures wrong in “car crash” House of Commons announcement

An MP who co-chair’s the All Party Parliamentary Cycling and Walking Group (APCWG) says that Boris Johnson’s confusion over cycling funding for England outside London reflects the “chaos” inside Number 10 Downing Street.

In a question put to the Prime Minister in the House of Commons on Tuesday, Ruth Cadbury, the Labour MP for Brentford & Isleworth, asked him how much of the £5 billion he had pledged for buses and cycling would specifically go on the latter.

> Updated: “A complete joke” – MP savages Boris Johnson’s cycling plans as he confirms no investment beyond £350 million manifesto pledge

“In the first stage, £350 million,” he replied.

Perhaps he chose that figure because that was the amount set aside under the Conservative manifesto for December’s general election, or perhaps the number jumped into his head because he had spent much of the previous hour talking about buses.

Whichever it was, however, the figure was incorrect, reports the Guardian’s Helen Pidd, citing two Downing Street sources, one of whom described it as “a car crash of an announcement,” adding, “we are pretty sure Boris made a mistake when answering that question and in fact it’s about £1bn for cycling now.”

> Government admits it needs to double cycling funding

It was also suggested that the £1 billion would be on top of the £350 million manifesto pledge, but spread over five years that still only equates to around £5 per person per year.

However much it is, Cadbury is seeking proof of the figure and intends to table a written question on the issue saying, “Until I see it in black and white I won’t believe it. All this confusion is symptomatic of the chaos No 10 operates in.”

Organisations including Cycling UK, British Cycling and Sustrans that belong to the Cycling & Walking Alliance have called for £17 per person per year to be spent on cycling immediately, rising to £34 by 2023.

> Alarm at prospect of cycle funding cuts under new government – Conservative manifesto pledges less than a quarter of current funding

Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.

Add new comment

7 comments

Avatar
kil0ran | 4 years ago
10 likes

Underrated paragraph *applause*

"Perhaps he chose that figure because that was the amount set aside under the Conservative manifesto for December’s general election, or perhaps the number jumped into his head because he had spent much of the previous hour talking about buses."

Avatar
eburtthebike | 4 years ago
11 likes

And now the chancellor has resigned because he was told to sack all his special advisers, so that there would only be the Boris the Liar's special advisers, chief of them being Cummings; the one who is in contempt of parliament.

I may have been inadvertently complimentary when I called this government incompetent.

Avatar
ktache replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
1 like

He is taking ownership of everything, good if it goes well, but of course it will not always...

Avatar
Derk Davies replied to ktache | 4 years ago
5 likes

He is just a puppet. Looks more like a muppet but still just a puppet.

 

Avatar
hawkinspeter replied to Derk Davies | 4 years ago
5 likes

That reminds me, whatever happened to the report on Russian meddling in UK elections?

Avatar
eburtthebike replied to hawkinspeter | 4 years ago
5 likes

hawkinspeter wrote:

That reminds me, whatever happened to the report on Russian meddling in UK elections?

Reported on the radio today that Boris the Liar has released it!  Unfortunately, it still needs the permission of the Intelligence and Security Committee to be published, and since Boris the Liar hasn't appointed anyone to it yet, it won't be published until he has.

Avatar
OldRidgeback replied to eburtthebike | 4 years ago
10 likes

The bizarre situation we now find ourselves in is that the PM is being 'advised' by Carrie Symonds and Dominic Cummings. 

I think calling the current government incompetent is extremely complimentary.

Latest Comments