Just over three months since cyclists, campaigners, and road safety figures roundly criticised her controversial comments on active travel, Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh has finally got round to travelling through her Sheffield constituency by e-bike, which she says has the potential to “make all the difference” in encouraging even those wary of the city’s hills to cycle more.
Earlier this month, Haigh, the MP for Sheffield Heeley, joined some of her constituents, representatives from Cycling UK, and three-time Olympic gold medallist and South Yorkshire’s active travel commissioner Ed Clancy for a ride up some of the city’s steepest climbs, as well as through its bus gates and school streets.
Before the cycle, Haigh – the politician likely to be tasked with heading the next government on issues of transport – was also briefed by Cycling UK on a recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR), which made the case for greater investment in cycling and walking infrastructure to help “unlock” several health, well-being, economic, and environmental benefits.
The IPPR’s report also noted the current “chronic underfunding” of active travel in the UK, highlighting that just two per cent of the transport budget in England goes towards cycling and walking infrastructure, and that between 2016 and 2021 £24 per head was spent each year in London, but just £10 in England outside the capital (a figure that has now plummeted to £1 per head, according to recent estimates). Meanwhile, spending on roads in England is equivalent to £148 per person per year.
The shadow transport secretary’s eagerness to cycle around her constituency – where almost one in three households do not own a car – also comes in the wake of her controversial comments concerning cycling in November.
During an interview with the Independent, Haigh was asked if she cycled, to which she responded: “God no, have you been to Sheffield?”, a comment she has since described as a “light-hearted joke” based on her “being unfit and the size of Sheffield’s hills”.
Despite her attempt to brush it off, one social media user responded to Haigh’s joke by asking, quite prophetically it turns out, “For God’s sake can an e-bike manufacturer please make sure everyone in government or future government has actually tried one and found out for themselves how great they are and how cheap to run?”
And just three months later, the Labour MP now appears to have changed her tune on cycling, and her ability to ride a bike in Sheffield, arguing – like the social media user from November – that the use of e-bikes could in fact help motivate people to cycle more.
“Sheffield is known for its hills and that may be a barrier for some people who might be thinking of choosing cycling to get around,” she said.
“It was great to be out with Cycling UK and to see how much easier it is to cycle when you have an extra boost from an e-bike, it makes all the difference.”
Haigh also praised Cycling UK’s ‘Making cycling e-asier’ initiative, which provides free one-month-long e-cycle loans to people in Sheffield and other locations across England, while also offering skills and confidence training.
7,000 have taken part in either the e-bike loan initiative or the charity’s community ride-based Big Bike Revival schemes over the past 12 months in Sheffield alone. The initiatives, Cycling UK notes, also help encourage underrepresented groups to take up cycling – 53 per cent of participants are female, 15 per cent are from a black or ethnic minority background, and 25 per cent were from the city’s most economically deprived areas.
“It’s great that residents now have the opportunity to try an e-bike before they buy one, making cycling more accessible for all,” Haigh said.
Meanwhile, Tom Collister, a Heeley constituent and coordinator of Sheffield Cycling 4 All, which provides adapted cycles and organised rides for people with disabilities, added: “E-cycling has opened up the option of cycling in Sheffield for many people who previously wouldn’t have been able to cycle.
“It was great that Louise Haigh could experience for herself just how much difference the e-assist makes.
“Hopefully this insight will enable her to better advocate for improved infrastructure and more e-cycle loan and low-cost purchase schemes. Hills no longer need to be a reason for not cycling in Sheffield.”
> "A light-hearted joke": Labour shadow transport secretary addresses backlash over cycling comments
In November, as noted above, Haigh was criticised by active travel campaigners for her less than effusive remarks about cycling and other traffic calming measures during her Independent interview.
These included claiming that prime minister Rishi Sunak had “demeaned himself” by saying the Labour Party would pursue a war on motorists, arguing that many of the most-criticised 20mph and low traffic neighbourhood schemes were implemented by Conservative-run local authorities, and stating that if elected there would be no Labour Party diktat that people should walk or cycle more.
After a backlash on social media, which saw Dr Robert Davis, the Chair of the Road Danger Reduction Forum, argue that Haigh’s comments, if true, “would make Labour less responsible than [Boris] Johnson’s government” on active travel, Haigh addressed this criticism, insisting in an interview with the Star that active travel is “essential for economic growth” and “every pound invested delivers a huge return in benefits”.
She also clarified her stance that Labour “believes it is for local communities to decide” if certain active travel schemes are suitable, something the Conservatives have wanted to “dictate to local communities”.
“The prime minister wants to dictate to local communities where they should and shouldn’t have schemes that boost active travel,” she said.
“Labour believes it is for local communities to decide and Westminster should be there to support sensible decisions on boosting active travel, reducing congestion, and improving communities.”
Following the shadow transport secretary’s spin around Sheffield this month, Sarah Mitchell, Cycling UK’s CEO, said: “We were so pleased to meet Louise and discuss the many benefits cycling brings as outlined in a recent report by the Institute for Public Policy Research – not just in terms of health, well-being and the climate, but also boosting economic growth, creating green jobs, and making our streets safer.
“E-cycles open those benefits up to even more people, especially in hilly places like Sheffield, and make getting around fun. What’s needed is for more people to have the option to choose walking or cycling for shorter journeys, and that requires investment in infrastructure, including separated cycle lanes.
“As the General Election draws nearer, we hope to hear all of the main political parties commit to enabling more people to move actively, and to realise all the benefits that brings.”