Freedom to move

Following the general election of 4 July, the Labour Party has now formed the UK government. Our asks for this new government are set out in Cycling UK’s ‘Freedom to move’ manifesto for cycling, which was written (like the first draft of this article) before the election took place. 

We campaigned furiously to persuade candidates to stand up for cycling if elected. By the time you’re reading this, we’ll have MPs from various parties elected across the UK who’ve pledged to support those asks over the next five years. But before outlining what they were, I’ll start with why they matter. 

It feels like longer, but only a couple of years ago there was a broad consensus among political parties in Westminster around the need to invest in active travel to get more people walking and cycling. It wasn’t perfect. There was increased investment in active travel in England but it was well short of the amount needed. There were positive changes to the Highway Code but without a long-term, well-funded awareness campaign to communicate those changes. 

Then that consensus collapsed. Cycling was portrayed as a divisive issue amid toxic arguments about speed limits, low traffic neighbourhoods, emission zones and the behaviour of cyclists. 

Some of the responses I received from parliamentary candidates during this election brought it home to me just how much work is needed to reset the narrative. These have included emails about cyclists “becoming even more obnoxious in their attitude”, having “an inflated sense of their own virtue” and “an unrealistic sense of what a motorist can see on a rainy night”, followed by calls for cyclists to be registered, taxed and insured, because the “ignorance” of cyclists is not “complemented by any humility”. And these were people wanting your vote! 

A manifesto for change 

Changing the public perception of cycling is one of the main objectives within Cycling UK’s new five-year strategy. We won’t change that overnight through a general election campaign alone, but that campaign is part of our wider strategy, so our manifesto and our communication with candidates has focused on a positive vision of what we want to see. 

We want bustling high streets you can walk down while breathing clean air. Millions more children walking and cycling to school, because they and their parents feel it’s a safe option. A healthier nation, with more people building physical movement into their daily lives. 

That’s the vision we took to the candidates, because it’s one we won’t realise unless the new government enables more people to walk, wheel and cycle. It’s one of the cheapest and most effective health interventions a government can make. And there’s clear evidence that if walking and cycling look and feel like a natural choice for short journeys, millions more people will do so regularly. 

Thousands of you emailed your candidates asking them to support our manifesto, and hundreds of them pledged to do so or asked to meet with us if elected. As always, your support has been and remains vital, wherever you live in the UK. For although many transport decisions for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are devolved, our manifesto asks have been developed to resonate in all four nations as policies and commitments both we and our supporters would like to see delivered across the UK, even if the power to make that happen sits outside Westminster. 

The culture wars around cycling aren’t limited by nation either, so it’s vital we convey the positive vision of what we want to see to politicians throughout the UK. That’s why we asked every candidate to support measures and policies to:

Deliver long-term investment in cycling, walking and wheeling 

Increase investment in active travel, ramping up to at least 10% of the total transport budget within five years. Local authorities need the security of long-term funding to have confidence to develop and deliver long-term plans for active travel networks. This isn’t just a transport investment but an investment in public health, people, places, the environment and the future we want for our children. 

Provide better transport choices to reduce traffic 

Produce an integrated transport strategy designed to give people more transport choices, with targets to reduce traffic. Some people will have to or still want to drive, but the government must do more to make it easy and enjoyable for the majority to get around by walking, wheeling or cycling, and for public and shared transport to be more accessible. By providing better transport choices, the government can make our day-to-day journeys good for our health, our communities, our economy and our environment, and reduce traffic in line with net zero targets. 

Build truly sustainable new homes and developments 

Improve and invest in the planning system so that all new homes and other developments are required to be built around frequent public transport services, safe streets and excellent walking and cycling networks. Changes to the National Planning Policy Framework should align with transport guidance to ensure that schools, shops, healthcare facilities and green open spaces are within a short walk of people’s homes. 

Make our streets safer 

Support speed-reduction measures in both built-up areas and on rural roads to make our streets and roads safer. Too often, people are deterred from walking or cycling because they don’t think it’s safe, but more people will choose active travel if our streets both feel, and are, safer. One of the quickest and easiest ways to achieve this is by reducing vehicle speeds, with speed limits appropriate to the environment. 

Help everyone to access nature 

Increase responsible access to the countryside for everyone by extending public open-access rights. More and better connected green spaces close to where people live would realise huge public health benefits. This should include increased access for people cycling and horse riding on existing paths and tracks across open-access land, where the public are already able to roam on foot, and a simplified system for changing the status of public rights of way to create a network fit for the future. 

Fix our failing road traffic laws 

Commission a review of road traffic laws within the first 12 months of the new government. The aim should be to reduce danger on our roads, protect victims, make our roads safer, prevent road crime and deliver justice. This should include measures to ensure that people who are a danger to others are taken off the roads, and that our laws covering careless and dangerous behaviour on our roads work better to deal with and discourage irresponsible behaviour. 

Our parliamentary agenda 

We started thinking about and planning for this election 18 months ago. We were taken by surprise with the timing, and this article was planned to drop through your letter box before an anticipated autumn election date, to tell you about what we planned to do rather than what we were already doing! 

That said, in the last 18 months we’ve attended political party conferences to lobby and influence current politicians and future candidates. We’ve commissioned reports with different think-tanks, which have informed our manifesto asks, and engaged politicians at separate parliamentary launch events. 

We’ve developed a contact programme for meeting politicians and candidates, which we’ve only been able to do by recruiting people into a new policy and public affairs team, to increase our capacity to complement our campaigning with lobbying and long-term political engagement. 

And that’s why the work linked to our general election campaign didn’t end on 4 July. There are lots of new faces in parliament, and many have pledged to support policies to get more people cycling. Many more want to meet with us to discuss this further. The next 100 days are really important. We’re already arranging conversations and meetings, including with new ministerial teams.