What the Hell is Happening In the UK?
The War on Cars
The War on Cars, LLC
4.9 • 937 Ratings
🗓️ 5 December 2023
⏱️ 49 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has declared it’s time to end what he calls “the war on motorists.” First, the Conservative Party leader announced he was delaying the UK’s commitment to ban the sale of new gas-powered cars. He followed that with what he called his “plan for motorists,” which would severely restrict local efforts to implement low-traffic neighborhoods, 20 mph speed limits, bus-only lanes, and other policies intended to benefit people walking, cycling, and taking transit. Finally, he scrapped a major portion of HS2, a high-speed rail line linking some of the UK’s biggest cities.
So… what the hell is happening in the UK? With similar setbacks in Berlin, Madrid, New York and elsewhere, is this part of a broader global backsliding? Are we losing the The War on Cars or is the prime minister just grasping at culture-war straws? The Guardian’s Peter Walker returns to the podcast to help us figure it all out.
This episode is produced with support from Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest Cleverhood discount code.
SHOW NOTES:
“Sunak ‘backs drivers,’ announces scaling back of HS2, and delays the UK’s ban on gas-powered vehicles by five years. (Peter Walker & colleagues, The Guardian)
Rishi Sunak says he’s “slamming the brakes on the war on motorists.” (The Sun)
King Charles III makes his first “King’s Speech.” (YouTube)
British Transport Secretary Mark Harper on “sinister” 15-minute-city plans. (The Independent)
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Transcript
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| 1:00.6 | In September 2003, 2003, Prime Minister Rishisunak announced that he was delaying a UK |
| 1:09.7 | commitment to ban the sale of new fossil fuel-powered cars by 2030. |
| 1:15.0 | I'm announcing today that we're going to ease the transition to electric |
| 1:19.7 | vehicles. You'll still be able to buy petrol and diesel cars and vans until 2035. |
| 1:25.0 | Even after that, you'll still be able to buy and sell them secondhand. |
| 1:30.0 | We're aligning our approach with countries like Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Australia, |
| 1:37.6 | Canada, Sweden and US states such as California, New York and Massachusetts, |
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