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Sadiq Khan, Heidi Alexander and Val Shawcoross.jpgMP who has called for tougher laws on dangerous cycling appointed London's Deputy Mayor for Transport
Heidi Alexander, the Labour Member of Parliament who last year called for tougher laws to be introduced against people who cycle dangerously, has been appointed by Sadiq Khan as his Deputy Mayor for Transport.
The Lewisham East MP’s constituents include Matthew Briggs, who launched a campaign for the law to be toughened after his wife Kim was killed by Charlie Alliston, who crashed into her on London’s Old Street in February 2016.
Alliston, who was riding a fixed-wheel bike that had no front brake, was convicted by an Old Bailey jury of causing bodily injury through wanton and furious driving under the Offences Against The Person Act 1861, but acquitted of manslaughter.
After he was sentenced to 18 months’ custody in a young offenders’ institution in September 2016, Alexander raised the issue of the law relating to dangerous cycling at Prime Minister’s Questions.
She asked Theresa May: “Does she agree that the law on dangerous driving should be extended to included offences by cyclists and that the 1861 offence of wanton and furious driving, on which the prosecution had to rely in this case, is hopelessly outdated and wholly inadequate?"
> Prime Minister urged to extend dangerous driving law to cycling
In response, the Prime Minister said that the Labour MP had "raised an important issue. We should welcome the fact that the prosecution team were able to find legislation under which they were able to take a prosecution, but she makes a general point about ensuring that our legislation keeps up to date with developments, and I am sure that the Secretary of State for Transport will look at the issue."
Later that month, Transport Minister Jesse Norman announced a two-part cycle safety review, currently under consultation, which will address not only how to improve the safety of cyclists, but also whether a new offence equivalent to causing death by careless or dangerous driving should be introduced.
> Government announces cycle safety review in wake of Alliston conviction
In December, in a written question Alexander pressed Norman over “when he plans to commence the second phase of the review of cycle safety announced on 21 September, into wider road safety issues.”
The minister, whose responsibilities at the Department for Transport include cycling, replied that a Call for Evidence would be published “in early 2018” and that “Preliminary discussions regarding Phase Two have already started.“
> Government asks for “help, ideas and evidence” on how to make cycling safer
Alexander, who succeeds Val Shawcross in her new role, will step down as an MP, with City Hall saying, “In law it is not possible for Heidi to be both Deputy Mayor and an MP.”
Observers of London politics will note that for the final 12 months of his term as Mayor of London, Khan’s predecessor, Boris Johnson, combined that role with sitting in the House of Commons as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip.
Andrew Gilligan, who served as London’s Cycling Commissioner under Johnson, was among those who reacted on Twitter to today’s appointment, writing: “Heidi Alexander cycles – and has voiced support for improvement. But her main recent work in the field was to lead the campaign for tougher dangerous cycling laws.”
London Cycling Campaign (LCC) told road.cc that it wanted to thank Shawcross “for her dedication and support for cycling in London,” which saw LCC members vote her and fellow co-chair of the Greater London Assembly Transport Committee, Caroline Pidgeon, Cycling Champions of the Year 2015.
“We thank Val for her subsequent efforts, as Deputy Mayor for Transport, in creating the positive approach to sustainable transport that figures large in the Mayor’s Transport Strategy,” LCC continued.
Commenting on the new appointee, LCC said: “We are looking forward to working with Heidi Alexander as she steps into her new role as Deputy Mayor for Transport, supporting her to achieve the Mayor’s ‘Vision Zero’ target of no deaths or serious injuries on the city’s roads by 2041.
“To achieve this very worthwhile aim we need to see far improved infrastructure for walking and cycling accompanied by the right legislation to ensure safe and considerate behaviour on all roads.”
Alexander, who was first elected to the House of Commons in 2010, acted as campaign chair for Khan when he was seeking selection as the Labour candidate in the 2016 mayoral election.
The Mayor said he was “delighted” that she had agreed to take up the position.
“Heidi knows this city inside-out, and her work both as Shadow Health Secretary and campaigning over the best Brexit deal has demonstrated the terrific job she will do as part of my team standing up for London,” he said.
“Heidi is respected across the political divide as a parliamentarian and campaigner, and Londoners can be confident she will ensure we deliver our ambitious plans to transform London’s transport network over the coming years.”
Alexander acknowledged that Shawcross , who retires after 18 years at City Hall where she chaired the Greater London Assembly’s Transport Committee and more recently helped Khan draw up his transport strategy and five-year business plan, would be “a hard act to follow but I can't wait to get started.”
She added: “After eight years as the Member of Parliament for Lewisham East and six years as a local councillor, I know just how important it is we ensure everyone has access to a high-quality and affordable public transport network, with safe cycling routes across the capital. London is a fantastic city.
“I know Sadiq wants its transport system to be the envy of the world and I am looking forward to playing my part in making that happen."
Simon joined road.cc as news editor in 2009 and is now the site’s community editor, acting as a link between the team producing the content and our readers. A law and languages graduate, published translator and former retail analyst, he has reported on issues as diverse as cycling-related court cases, anti-doping investigations, the latest developments in the bike industry and the sport’s biggest races. Now back in London full-time after 15 years living in Oxford and Cambridge, he loves cycling along the Thames but misses having his former riding buddy, Elodie the miniature schnauzer, in the basket in front of him.
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47 comments
Khan is a complete waste of space. You are certainly not going to get anything out of him if you ride any 2 wheel machine, bicycle or motorcycle. Hopefully he will be voted out next time around.
Err, you preferred Boris Johnson as mayor? He spent £37 million on a bridge without it being built, handing out the design contract without a proper tender process to a tennis club chum. He went ahead with building a cable car almost no one uses and also the construction of very expensive buses that cook the passengers on hot days and freeze them on cold days. He took the credit for the London cycle hire scheme, thought it'd been planned by his predecessor. And Boris only started riding a bike after being banned for drining and driving.
Khan's quite a good mayor.
Maybe the Luftwaffe had the right idea, level the fucking shithole and start again, ensuring the polis are all in Westminster (and the house of lords are full) and ram a big fat juicy grand slam in their laps.
The actions and inaction of government are literally unlawful and complicit in harm of the population whilst discriminating in application of the law against a group that is responsible for fewer pedestrian deaths than the pedestrians themselves.
Oh yeah, Corbyn isn't going to fix shit.
I notice that your post counter is at 1660 for this comment. Can I get all Dan Brown & deduce that this post is a cunningly hidden call for an army of 'sleepers' to awake and 'restore' some king/queen to their 'rightfull' place?
That very much was purely conincidental, up to 1663 now which is the year of the Farnley Wood Plot ... to overthrow the monatchy.lol
Didn't one of the Lords claim that building the cycling superhighways had already done more damage to London than the Germans ever did...?
No, I think that was a some self righteous prick called Michael Dunne, supposedly a christian leader within his community https://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/church-claims-west-london-cycle-s...
Though Nigel Lawson (yet another titled prick) also stated that cycle lanes would do the most damage since the Luftwaffe, it would seem that being a titled prick automatically means you come out with shite, you only have to hear the same rhetoric from Robert Winston who seemingly won't/can't give facts to back up his claim cycle lanes cause more pollution.
typical polis
Ha ha ha ha ha! London is fucked.
Good luck with that.
More proof that Khan isn't interested in doing anything positive for cycling.
"Heidi Alexander cycles" Never heard of that one; I'll continue shopping at Evans Cycles.
Well, I don't live in London, so not directly affecting me, but I would find it difficult to support someone who thinks that the laws about dangerous cycling need reviewing. I've just checked her speeches in Parliament, and none of them were transport focussed.
“Heidi Alexander cycles – and has voiced support for improvement. But her main recent work in the field was to lead the campaign for tougher dangerous cycling laws.”
Well, I don't want to be sizeist, but if she's cycled more than ten feet in the last year, I'll eat my hat. Just why does the mayor think that someone so clearly identified as being anti-cyclist would make a good Deputy Mayor for Transport? I suppose it could mean that she will have to bend over backwards to remove any suspicion that she is anti-cyclist, but with a history like that, I won't be holding my breath.
There were blokes bigger than her doing the Tour de Yorkshire ride on Sunday. And that was a lot lumpier than Lewisham.
If you want cycling to be seen as a mainstream activity that isn't just the preserve of hobbyists and athletes then it's best not to call anyone a liar if they are over a size 12 and claim to ride a bike.
The Prime Minister said that the Labour MP had raised an important issue.
Are you friggin' kidding me?
*cough* London pollution *cough*
While London air quality isnt as god as it could be, its alot better than other places in the UK. Over the last few days while pollution levels have been 'very high', they have been in places such as Port Talbot and around areas in Essex on the Thames that have shipping.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/revealed-uks-worst-area-for-pollution...
I was surprised when I first read that report. I did raise a forum post about that: http://road.cc/content/forum/241150-towns-exceeding-legal-pollution-limi...
Interesting, though I'd rather see something that was weighted by population - how many people live and breath in each of the areas listed? How many particles are inhaled per day in each region?
London may well not be at the top of such a list either, but it would be useful to know what the ordering would be when looked at that way.
Weighted by the correlation of where there are sensors recording the pollution would be a better measure,since the places not on the list would stand out as not having lower pollution,but not bothering to record it.
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