LETTER:Talking 'green' on road to chaos
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Sir: Having talked "green" in recent months, the Government has now shown its true colours with regard to transport policy ("Ministers axe plan to cut pollution", 2 April). In their woefully belated response to the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution's report, the Government is apparently set to ignore most of the recommendations of the report it commissioned.
It fails to accept important targets for a shift from cars to other forms of transport in urban areas, and it hasn't decided whether or not to accept targets significantly to increase cycling. If the Government was less concerned about being portrayed as anti-car then it might fnd the time to be pro-railways, buses, cycling and walking.
Given this total lack of a coherent transport policy, it is not surprising that the Government has apparently removed the use of the word "integrated" from its document because it is too "socialist". Forward planning, future resources and local initiatives are other words that might qualify for expurgation.
What is needed, and what Labour will provide, is a national transport framework including targets for pollution reduction and the structures and policies that can achieve those targets at regional and local levels.
The results of 17 years of drift in transport are all around us in pollution and congestion. They provide the most eloquent case for a new government to adopt an integrated approach across all means of transport and levels of government.
Graham Allen MP
Shadow Minister for
Transport
House of Commons
London SW1
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments