Paul Salveson says Labour good on devolving powers but poor on reducing carbon emissions
Transport has not featured very high in the election so far, at least in England which this “P and C” focuses on. Labour published its transport policy document a couple of months ago; its manifesto has a much-shortened summary of the longer document which mainly focused on rail. The manifesto covers transport as a whole and is poor. Clearly, Starmer does not want The Daily Mail to accuse him of “waging a war on the motorist”.
Despite a few other commitments in the document around climate change, there is hardly a passing glance given to the importance of transport in reducing carbon emissions and contributing to a sustainable future. Instead, Labour is effectively saying it will make it cheaper to drive, e.g. reducing the cost of car insurance and fuel. The document says that “Cars remain by far the most popular form of transport.” It might have added “and we’ll make sure that remains so.” It continues in similar vein saying that “Labour will maintain and renew our road network, to ensure it serves drivers, cyclists and other road users, remains safe, and tackles congestion.” It makes reference to supporting bus services, giving local authorities more power to franchise networks, as well as allowing councils to run their own bus services. That is welcome and will be interesting to see if any take up the offer.
Aviation, a huge contributor to environmental pollution, is also given the “thumbs up”. There is very little specifically on rail, other than “taking the railways back into public ownership”. Most of it is already, though a commitment to establishing “Great British Railways” to bring direction to the railways is welcome, a commitment from the previous Government. It also says that Labour will develop “a ten-year infrastructure strategy, aligned with our industrial strategy and regional development priorities, including improving rail connectivity across the north of England.” Let us hope the money is there to do it.
Probably the most helpful commitment is that “Labour will give mayors the power to create unified and integrated transport systems, allowing for more seamless journeys, and to promote active travel networks.”
This is part of a wider commitment to giving combined and mayoral authorities greater power. It says that “In England, Labour will deepen devolution settlements for existing Combined Authorities. We will also widen devolution to more areas, encouraging local authorities to come together and take on new powers. Towns and cities will be able to take hold of the tools they need to pursue growth, create jobs, and improve living standards. Local areas will be able to gain new powers over transport, adult education and skills, housing and planning, and employment support.”
It looks like there has been some strong lobbying by the Labour mayors in the North of England to get this commitment from Starmer. In reality, the most radical things likely to come out of Labour in England over the next few years will not come from Westminster, but from the combined authorities across the North and Midlands. As argued in previous “P&Cs” this is a good thing but the combined authorities need to be more democratically accountable, with elected assemblies overseeing the mayors.
Are the other non-Tory parties any better on transport? As you would expect the Greens make strong pledges to invest in public transport, as well as walking and cycling. Surprisingly, the Greens make no reference to English devolution and the growing potential of the mayoral combined authorities in the North and Midlands, reinforcing a sense that they are becoming the party of the progressive, prosperous South. The Liberal Democrats are also strong on public transport but try to be all things to everyone by supporting cheaper motoring in rural areas. Yes, it’s difficult getting about in rural areas without a car, but investing in a core rural bus network, connecting into rail hubs, would be a better idea.
The Liberal Democrats have built a wider base of support across England, with pockets of support in some urban areas as well as rural constituencies such as Westmorland and Lonsdale which Tim Farron hopes to win. Overall, its transport policies are sensible and, unlike Labour, they recognise the huge damage done to the environment by aviation, saying they will ban “short domestic flights where a direct rail option taking less than 2.5 hours is available for the same journey, unless planes are alternative-fuelled.”
Returning to Labour, it makes the point that train cancellations “are at a record high”. Indeed they are, and Labour could resolve that on Day One by allowing train operators to reach agreement with the drivers’ union Aslef to end the crippling dispute that is the main cause of the cancellations.