Does the Transport Secretary know how Britain’s roads are funded?

You and I know roads are not funded by motorists but by all tax-payers. This basic fact seems to elude Philip Hammond yet he’s the UK Transport Secretary.

I have it on very good authority that a senior civil servant in the Department of Transport patiently explained the intricacies of roads funding to Mr Hammond when he was appointed to his role earlier this year. He was told that the term ‘cyclists don’t pay road tax’ is wrong on many levels.

Hammond, a petrolhead who eschews train travel, might not have been giving his full attention to this civil servant. According to respected transport journalist Christian Wolmar, Hammond has been having a poke at ‘freeloading’ cyclists.

“Phil Hammond has again asked why cyclists do not pay road tax. Does he not yet realise there is no such thing?” twittered Wolmar.

Wolmar told me the anecdote came to him secondhand but that Hammond’s ‘road tax gibe’ against cyclists was batted down by a familiar bike nut: “Boris apparently corrected him when they went on a bike ride together,” said the well-connected Wolmar.

Good old Boris!

And this video must be from that bike ride, a jaunt on one of the London Cycle Hire bikes:

No pictures from the ride itself but it’s good to hear Hammond say cycling is “a great way to go…and I’ll be doing it again.”

But should he do so, he’d better watch out. There are drivers out there who shout abuse at cyclists for “no pay, no say”. Some throw missiles at cyclists for the same perceived crime.

Should either Boris or the UK Transport Secretary want to broadcast the fact that cyclists don’t need to pay ‘road tax’, because nobody does as it was abolished in 1937, there are some fetching cycle jerseys they could wear…

This entry was posted on Monday, September 13th, 2010 at 4:47 am and is filed under % who think cyclists are freeloaders, Transport Minister & wing mirrors. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.