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Sadiq Khan twittered about this new role: "I have been given a promotion… been made a Minister of State and… I have been asked to be Minister of State for Transport."
Khan fills the vacancy caused by the promotion of Lord Adonis to the post of Secretary of State for Transport. Because Adonis is a member of the House of Lords, he cannot speak in the House of Commons, so Khan will speak on behalf of the Government in the Commons.
He was previously under-secretary of state in the Department for Communities and Local Government and has been an MP only since 2005.
Despite his late father being a former London bus driver, Khan’s views on transport are largely unknown. However, he has been known to campaign against speeding cars, having been made ‘parliamentarian of the month’, in June 2008, by road safety charity, Brake.
As the MP for Tooting, Khan will be familiar with the London Mayor’s plans for ‘cycle superhighways’. Two of the proposed routes are being trialled in advance of the other ten, and one of these runs from Wimbledon to Bank via the A24 and A3, via Tooting.
The two trial routes are scheduled to be completed by May 2010. Safety issues will be addressed through tthe provision of advance stop boxes and providing continuous lanes through junctions as appropriate. In addition, obstructions will be minimised and improvements made to road surfaces to ensure a smoother ride.
Now he’s a Minister for Transport his twittering days could be numbered. Got a hankering to follow a bunch of bicycle twitterers? There are 675 prominent pedallers on this BikeBiz.com list.
