BikeBiz Bicycle and cycling retail news
George Galloway, the Respect Party’s candidate for Mayor of London became the sixth Mayoral candidate to give his commitment to the three-point agenda of LCC’s Sign for Cycling Campaign.
In a statement given to LCC, Galloway said: "I am committed to achieving the three-point agenda of the Sign for Cycling campaign, which I believe are all highly commendable. I will make sure the agenda is pursued on the basis of proper consultation – for instance, mini Hollands must be meaningfully negotiated with local stakeholders; and I would take additional action – for example, I believe our daytime ban on trucks will make a big difference. As per my policy, all trucks would be banned from London in the daylight hours so they would have to deliver during the night.
"There’s no doubt that funding for cycling is a paramount issue, not least with regards to safety. Going past Whitechapel recently, I have seen that they have introduced cycling lanes to this exact end. There’s been a £100m cut by 2020 in cycling funding. London is expected to spend £166m on cycling in 2017/2018 and £124m in 2018/19 and just £31m in 2021/22 but arguably this figure could and should be at least £200m a year."
In response, London Cycling Campaign’s CEO Ashok Sinha said: “London Cycling Campaign is delighted that Respect candidate for Mayor of London, George Galloway, has committed to achieving the three-point agenda of our Sign for Cycling campaign if elected as Mayor, and stated how he will make it safer for Londoners to cycle if elected. Mr Galloway’s support for Sign for Cycling now just leaves the UKIP candidate, Peter Whittle, as the only one of the major candidates who hasn’t yet given his support."
George Galloway joins Zac Goldsmith (Conservative), Sian Berry (Green), Sadiq Khan (Labour), Caroline Pidgeon (LibDem), and Sophie Walker (Women’s Equality Party) in giving his commitment to LCC’s three-point Sign for Cycling agenda.
