Celebrating the late John Prescott MP

 

Here’s a thought.

The late John Prescott and former deputy prime minister, ought to be celebrated as the first - indeed the only UK politician - ever to promote an integrated transport policy. His infamous 1998 White Paper.

 Instead, he was humiliated

 Infamous because it terrified his boss, Prime Minister Tony Blair who saw it as anti-motorist.

Blair feared a backlash from the road lobby, stoked by the right wing Daily Mail who would put the frighteners up Middle England.

 Prescott’s proposals sadly back-fired, as his own party, Labour, turned on him and rejected his plans.

 Prescott was punished by having his transport brief taken away from him.

The report had centred on the need to reduce car dependency to address the need to reduce congestion and pollution which was becoming worse by the minute. Bus and train travel was also poor and expensive.

This was a telling moment in Britain’s transport history and a brief look at the details reveals what a missed opportunity this was for the health of the nation, in particular the need to reduce transport pollution to help stave off climate change.

Cycling figured large in Prescott’s plan, laying the ground work for creating the safe roads needed if cycling as transport was ever to fulfil its promise. The stuff of dreams. Bus and train services would also become more efficient and cheaper in a plan aiming to better coordinate all transport modes and to offer people greater choice.

 As is well known, Britain has never had a transport policy. And judging by what happened to Prescott, it never will.

Bias towards the roads lobby and vested interests in the multi-£billions roads construction industry remains the major obstacle to achieving anything approaching integration.

That and a laissez-faire approach from the many government departments which need to co-operate to achieve it that is the killer.