Nuxx:MPG.265ee04613efc6ed98974b@news.zen.co.uk

Path: num2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!num1.nntp.dca.giganews.com!number.nntp.dca.giganews.com!border2.nntp.dca.giganews.com!nntp.giganews.com!newsfeed00.sul.t-online.de!t-online.de!feeder.news-service.com!newsfeed.eweka.nl!feeder3.eweka.nl!hq-usenetpeers.eweka.nl!81.171.88.15.MISMATCH!eweka.nl!lightspeed.eweka.nl!zen.net.uk!hamilton.zen.co.uk!prichard.zen.co.uk.POSTED!not-for-mail Message-ID:  From: Guy Cuthbertson  Newsgroups: uk.rec.cycling,uk.rec.driving Subject: Coalition government: Transport Secretary Philip Hammond ends Labour's 'war on motorists' Date: Thu, 20 May 2010 07:00:26 +0100 Lines: 84 MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit User-Agent: MicroPlanet-Gravity/2.9.14 Organization: Zen Internet NNTP-Posting-Host: 64233eac.news.zen.co.uk X-Trace: DXC=nbPi[iVUCl:G>2Zgg858V:0g@SS;SF6n7ogMo?V3Jo4>o4ZT7>:;3dmmYK0T9 X-Complaints-To: abuse@zen.co.uk Bytes: 5374 Xref: perfectly-safe.chapmancentral.co.uk uk.rec.cycling:837230

Good news and high time. Although can anyone explain how the war on motorists can be ended when there was no war on motorists in the first place? Oh no, hang on, that was just a farcical claim made by some of the more dishonest car-hating nutters on URC(M). What a pity that no- one has ever fallen for it. You'd have to be pretty gullible to really believe that some of the speed limits, cameras and "road improvements" you see these days are there to "improve safety" or do anything else but make driving unpleasant.

Nice to see that this government is (for the moment at least) doing what the people want. I'd say that far fewer than 5% of people have ever wanted a war on the motorist, which just goes to show what a paternalistic, authoritarian, socialist, "we know best" attitude Labour had. I'm not expecting miracles from this lot but saying the below is a start, and Labour never would have done so. Whatever the nutters may want, the vast majority of people want to drive cars without the authorities making it deliberately difficult for them, so that is what should happen in a democracy, end of.

It's time the car-haters accepted that spitefully obstructing people just for choosing a perfectly legitimate, legal mode of transport which may well be the only practical one is totally and utterly out of order. If they want people to switch to public transport then make it more attractive and sell the benefits to people. Attempting to bully people out of their cars has never worked and it never will, however much smug, twisted satisfaction it may give the nutters to see so many petty, ludicrous restrictions on motorists.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/motoring/news/7721591/Coalition-government- Transport-Secretary-Philip-Hammond-ends-Labours-war-on-motorists.html

Coalition government: Transport Secretary Philip Hammond ends Labour's 'war on motorists'

Philip Hammond, the Transport Secretary, has declared an end to the ?war on motorists?.

Within hours of taking on the portfolio, he confirmed that the new administration would bring in a ?fuel price stabiliser? that would lead to taxes being reduced if the price of oil rose sharply. However, fuel duties would rise if the cost of petrol and diesel fell.

?We will end the war on motorists,? said Mr Hammond. ?Motoring has got to get greener but the car is not going to go away.?

He accused Labour of having targeted motorists with a series of increases in fuel duty and of pushing up the price of cars by linking the cost of the tax disc to a vehicle?s carbon emissions.

Mr Hammond, who drives a Jaguar, also confirmed a manifesto pledge that there would be no Whitehall cash for new speed cameras. He said road safety partnerships would have to pay for new devices out of their own funds, even though the Treasury would still pocket the fines.

He sought to enhance the Government?s motorist-friendly credentials by pressing ahead with plans to curb rogue private clamping firms.

He also ruled out introducing road pricing, which the Liberal Democrats had supported in their manifesto. Tolls may be introduced on new roads but charges would not be levied on existing motorways, even where they had been widened.

It was likely that new roads would be built by private companies, with Mr Hammond saying that the Government would look for other sources of funds for major projects ? possibly including high-speed rail.

?We are going to have to look at new and innovative ways of funding capital expenditure,? he said.

However, Mr Hammond?s remarks were given a cautious welcome by Edmund King, the AA?s president. With the Government planning spending cuts and the Liberal Democrats wanting to cut the roads budget, Mr King voiced fears that the Government?s truce may be short-lived.

?While the Transport Secretary?s comments are welcome, I am worried that cutting back on road expenditure will leave drivers facing more congestion and more potholes,? he said.

?We are worried over the revolving door that has seen 13 transport secretaries in 22 years, meaning they have served an average of 20 months each.

?If we are having a fixed-term government, why can?t we have a fixed- term transport secretary who can get to grips with the brief??