Transport secretary Louise Haigh said she plans to support local authorities who want to introduce 20mph speed limits, despite polling showing that 70 per cent of people are opposed to the policy.
She said she wants to move on from the “culture wars” that made transport policy so controversial under the previous government.
Ms Haigh dubbed the last government’s approach to 20mph speed limits, cycle lanes and Low Traffic Neighbourhoods “ridiculous” after it launched criticism of so-called “anti-motorist” policies.
This comes despite a YouGov survey indicating that 70 per cent of people in Wales – which last year imposed a 20mph speed limit in built up areas – opposed the policy. Meanwhile, 40 per cent admitted to regularly breaking it. The survey, conducted between July 24 and 29, spoke to 877 Welsh drivers.
A 20mph default speed limit was introduced in residential areas in Wales in September 2023. In England, 20mph speed limits have not been adopted as the default, but a number of local authorities – including 11 of boroughs in London – adopted the limit on an individual basis.
The transport secretary said traffic speed limits are “entirely up for local areas to decide”.
“It was completely wrong for the previous government to say that they would dictate that from Whitehall,” she told Bloomberg. “There’s no way me, sitting in my office in the DfT, can say: ‘This road in Chester should be a 20 mile per hour road or not.’ It’s completely ridiculous.”
As prime minister, Rishi Sunak pledged to end “anti-car measures”, promising a clampdown on 20mph limits, bus lanes, low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), and the ability of councils to fine drivers who commit offences.
Shadow transport secretary Helen Whately claimed Ms Haigh’s remarks show Labour is “unable to take a common sense approach to transport”.
Responding to the transport secretary’s comments, she said: “There’s a time and a place for 20 mph speed limits. But Labour don’t seem to get that not everywhere is a town centre.
“Walking and cycling simply aren’t feasible for millions of journeys people take every day, and punishing drivers won’t change that. Labour’s blanket 20mph speed limit in Wales has been a disaster. People hate it and it’s often just ignored.
“Labour seem unable to take a common sense approach to transport. Unions are good and drivers are bad seems to be their mantra.”