If you consider the decision by the UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak, to cancel phase two of the high-speed rail project, HS2 in the context of the government’s growing pro-car stance, the potential ramifications for the country are profound.
Steve Tuckwell’s single-issue campaign against the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) in London won him the Uxbridge and South Ruislip vote in the three byelections held in July 2023. This saw the Conservatives narrowly avoid what would have otherwise been a crippling 3-0 defeat.
The transport secretary, Mark Harper, has since derided the long-standing 15-minute city urban planning concept as a “sinister” and “overzealous” misuse of traffic management measures to police people’s lives.
