The next Labour government will make England one of the most cycling and walking friendly places in the world.

Labour is announcing ambitious plans for a new ‘Healthy Streets
Programme’ to make our towns and cities cleaner and greener to transform
the environment, travel opportunities and quality of life across the
country.

Labour’s ‘Healthy Streets’ programme will be modelled on the best
towns in Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands. Like Amsterdam where 67%
of trips are by foot or bike. Only 29% of trips are made by foot or bike
in the UK.

Labour will deliver the boost to cycling and walking needed to
urgently tackle the climate emergency, the local air pollution crisis
and the epidemic of ill-health caused by a lack of investment in walking
and cycling. Labour’s investment in walking and cycling will, for the
first time, make active travel a genuine option for the many, not just
the brave.

Labour will:

Double cycling journeys by adults and children.

Build 5000km of cycleways.

Create safe cycling and walking routes to 10,000 primary schools.

Deliver universal affordable access to bicycles and grants for e-bike purchase.

Provide cycle training for all primary school children and their
parents, plus extend training to secondary schools and make it available
for all adults.

According to the Royal College of Physicians, 40,000 deaths a year
are attributable to air pollution so reducing car emissions will have a
positive public health effect.

Andy McDonald, Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary, said:

“Walking and cycling are essential forms of transport, but have been neglected by nine years of Tory Britain.

“Making more of our everyday trips by walking and cycling is crucial
to reducing transport emissions and tackling the climate emergency.

“We could cut up to one third of carbon emissions from car journeys
if we had the same quality of segregated cycle infrastructure and
cycling culture as the Dutch, and simultaneously we would cut the
obesity and diabetes crisis that is threatening to overwhelm the NHS.

“Labour’s plans will make England one the best countries in the world for walking and cycling.”

Rebecca Long Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Business and Energy Secretary, responding to the publication of several consultation documents rather than a long-awaited energy white paper, said:

“The publication of a slew of consultation documents, in place of a
coherent white paper, is evidence that the Conservatives are failing in
one of the central duties of government: keeping the lights on in a way
that is climate friendly and affordable.

“After waiting months for an energy white paper, and after almost ten
years of Conservative rule, you would expect answers rather than
questions.”

Ends

Notes to editors

It has been reported that the Treasury is blocking the energy white paper:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-07-12/hammond-poised-to-halt-plans-to-overhaul-u-k-energy-industry

Jonathan Ashworth MP, Labour’s Shadow Health Secretary, responding to the publication of the government’s ill health prevention green paper, said:

“There are serious questions for Matt Hancock to answer on why he has
slipped this important green paper out at this time. It looks like he
is trying to bury bad news and that he buckled under pressure from Boris
Johnson and the corporate lobbyists running his campaign.

“With advances in life expectancy stalling, infant mortality rates
worsening and health inequalities widening, this green paper is hugely
disappointing.

“Proposals to extend the sugar tax to milkshakes have been shelved
again and an expected levy on tobacco firms to fund smoking cessation
services appear to have been kicked into the long grass.

“The Tories have imposed £800 million worth of cuts to public local
health services and there is no indication these cuts will be reversed.

“Sadly this green paper is a missed opportunity, raises disturbing
questions about the role of lobbyists in watering it down,  and isn’t
worth the paper it’s written on. Only Labour will prioritise health
inequalities and fully fund public health services.”

Ends

Notes to editors

The government uploaded its green paper Advancing our health: prevention in the 2020s today

Ian Lavery MP, Labour Chair, responding to the election of Jo Swinson as new Liberal Democrat leader, said:

“Jo Swinson sat at the top table of the coalition government and
voted for vicious attacks on the most vulnerable and tax cuts for the
super-rich and big businesses.

“Austerity couldn’t have happened without Liberal Democrats – leading
to shocking levels of child poverty, the tripling of tuition fees, a
homelessness crisis and rising food bank use.

“Labour is the only party that can stop the Tories, and transform Britain so that it works for the many not the few”

Nia Griffith MP, Labour’s Shadow Defence Secretary, responding to the Defence Select Committee’s report ‘Shifting the Goalposts? Defence Expenditure and the 2% Pledge: An Update’, which shows that MoD spending has been cut by 25% since 2010, said:

“It is hypocrisy of the highest order for both candidates for the
Conservative leadership to talk of boosting defence spending when they
have consistently voted for budgets, which have slashed the MoD’s funds
to what they are today.

“This report highlights the severe and unprecedented cuts that the
Conservatives have made to defence since 2010. Instead of considering
what is necessary for our defence and security needs, Conservative
Ministers have delivered crippling austerity which has put unprecedented
strain on the men and women of our Armed Forces.

“You cannot do security on the cheap. The next Labour government will
ensure that our armed forces are properly equipped and resourced to
respond to wide-ranging security challenges.”