Words must lead to action to ‘Get Britain Cycling’

Key cycle advocates have all called for action to back up the words spoken by MPs in last night’s debate.

Praising the number of MPs who participated and noting the cross-party support for cycling, attention is now turning to the government to act on the views expressed in the Houses of Commons.

While MPs debated the recommendations of the ‘Get Britain Cycling’ report, thousands of cyclists gathered outside Parliament in the #spaceforcycling ride.

"The well attended debate has shown that MPs of all parties support CTC and our partners in calling for the government to enact ALL the recommendations of the Get Britain Cycling inquiry," said CTC chief executive Gordon Seabright. "The Prime Minister says he wants a ‘cycling revolution’ – CTC members want to see these words backed up with action, which means sustained cycle funding and giving priority to cycling whenever facilities are being built or maintained."

Sustrans’ policy director Jason Torrance said: “Cycling bridged the political divide tonight, with MPs from all parties supporting renewed action from government as they spoke passionately about the need to get more Britons on their bikes.

“But words without action will do little to make our roads safer, improve the health of our population or give the economy its much-needed boost.

“We need to remove barriers to cycling that government is introducing such as the parking free-for-all in our town centres, while also setting ambitious targets for UK cycling levels and introducing legislative change in England that echoes the Active Travel (Wales) Bill."

British Cycling’s policy and legal affairs director Martin Gibbs added: "It was impressive to see such a good turnout of MPs, especially on the evening of the first day back. The level of consensus is also really encouraging. It’s clear that we all understand what needs to be done to transform cycling in this country – we need to consistently and properly fund cycling and embed it into the heart of our transport policies.

"I was pleased with the policy proposals put forward by Maria Eagle, especially where she said we need to see a step change in the commitment to cycling from the government and it must be a long term commitment supported by all parties."