Mike Rutherford column

	If the Conservative Party sticks with its car-hostile proposals, it will only alienate the 30 million Brits with licences...and voting cards

Less than three years ago, the Conservatives boldly promised to end Labour’s war on the motorist. At the same time, the main opposition party unveiled what it described as a plan of action on transport. “The car has improved the lives of millions of people, giving them chances only the rich enjoyed 100 years ago,” said Shadow Transport Secretary Tim Yeo. “To tackle congestion, I’ll expand the road network. To pay for new roads,
I won’t sting the taxpayer,” he promised. He even claimed he’d get rid of speed cameras that were money raisers rather than life savers. Credit where it’s due: back then, the party was trying to be pro-car, pro-motorist and pro-road.

Less than 36 months on, the Tories have changed their tune. Before vacating the Shadow Transport Secretary seat this summer, Chris Grayling claimed local road pricing schemes were “fine”. His replacement, the anonymous and eerily silent Theresa Villiers, may be a talented barrister and lecturer, but she has only two years of Parliamentary experience and no background in transport.

Tory Leader David Cameron has already humiliated himself by allowing his chauffeur-driven limousine to follow him as he rode ‘his’ pushbike as part of a green PR stunt that backfired. But the embarrassment didn’t stop there.

Looking like a village idiot, he has just been photographed again riding a bike which appears to be toppling over, thanks to the heavy shopping bag dangling from his handlebars. What’s more, Cameron doesn’t seem to be aware that his helmet should be on his head rather than hanging precariously from his two-wheeled machine. If Labour doesn’t use this embarrassing picture of DC in a negative ‘Is This Man Fit To Run Britain?’ campaign, I’ll be amazed.

On a more serious note, it also surprises me that Cameron has commissioned two of his senior and most trusted Conservative aides – John Gummer and Zac Goldsmith – to formally write and publish a document that effectively says the Tories are now anti-car, anti-motorist and anti-road.

No ifs or buts, the Conservative Party insists the days of carefree motoring are “gone”, and that car dependency is “hazardous”. Also, it reckons the average UK citizen drives further and more frequently than ever – 235 hours a year. Big deal. What’s the problem with spending 38 minutes in every 24 hours driving a car?

“We have to challenge the ascendancy of the motor vehicle,” this eve-of-
election Tory document continues. “Road building should be the exception rather than the norm,” it says. There’s a recommendation for a “moratorium” on ALL plans for motorway and trunk road widening schemes. Targets for a reduction in car trips are on the agenda, as is active support for more pedestrianisation and vehicle-free initiatives. “An incoming Conservative Government shouldn’t duck the challenge of managing demand for car use,” is the message to the electorate.

“We also believe that parking spaces provided by employers should be brought into the tax system by way of an additional charge” – or to put that another way, if you work at, say, a supermarket or factory located on a large piece of privately owned land where parking spaces are free and plentiful, leading Tories are on record as saying they intend to tax such spaces.

I have some advice for David Cameron: stick with the above car-hostile proposals, and you will completely alienate 30 million Brits who possess driving licences... and voting cards.