Good morning, and welcome to the middle Thursday in August, which is like Harvest festival for stupid news stories. We now turn to Grant Shapps, who is, and you should sit down for this, proposing to set up a review.
The review the transport secretary has in mind is into the laws that govern cycling in the UK. It could examine such thrilling prospects as licence plates, compulsory insurance, speed limits, and penalty points. It is hard to find anybody who has studied the issues seriously and thinks this is a workable plan – and none of this is likely to become law. But in every other respect it’s a smashing idea.
You may ask why a minister likely to leave his post in three weeks would bother you with this, to which I would say: again, it’s August! And it’s not as if the government has anything more important to be thinking about!
For today’s First Edition, I’ve spoken to Peter Walker, who is a cycling expert and author as well as the Guardian’s political correspondent, about what Shapps is up to, and why it made the front pages. Here are the headlines.
Five big stories
Cost of living | Two-thirds of UK households will be in fuel poverty by January with planned government support leaving even middle-income households struggling to pay bills, new research has found. 86% of pensioners and 90% of lone parents with two or more children will be among the worst affected.
Ukraine | A Russian soldier who was part of a unit that captured the Ukrainian city of Kherson has described a culture of anger and resentment in Vladimir Putin’s army over fighting an “idiotic war”. In a remarkable interview with the Guardian, Pavel Filatyev said he did not see justice in the conflict.
Strikes | Commuters are facing further disruption over three days from Thursday on rail, tube and bus services, as tens of thousands of workers begin the latest round of strike action. Trains, London Underground and buses across Cheshire, Lancashire, Manchester and Merseyside will be among those affected.
Education | Students getting A-level results on Thursday face a last-minute scramble to secure university places amid warnings that some courses will be oversubscribed. Results are expected to drop sharply after the government intervened to rein in pandemic-related grade inflation.
US politics | The Republican congresswoman Liz Cheney has announced she may run for president in an attempt to stop Donald Trump winning another term. Cheney lost her Republican primary in a landslide after her vocal criticisms of the former president.
In depth: Two wheels bad?
When Peter Walker isn’t covering Westminster, he spends more of his time than he might like explaining the reality behind the myriad attacks on cyclists that have become a part of the news diet in recent years. It’s a fairly sisyphean beat.
The latest chapter in this struggle came in a story that appeared on the front pages of the Daily Mail and the Times yesterday: a promise to beef up the regulation of cyclists and increase punishments for dangerous riding. The story appeared precision-engineered to appeal to the subset of drivers who view cyclists with the same kind of befuddled fury as a gorilla does a mosquito, and some of the response was correspondingly spittle-flecked in its delight.
Among them was this fantastically weird but undeniably entertaining rant from the TalkTV presenter Jeremy Kyle, who professed himself “so excited” at the prospect of more fines for the “leg-shaven, Lycra-wearing, lazy” cyclists who have apparently made his life so totally impossible.
“It’s not that I think cyclists are morally superior,” said Peter. (I didn’t ask whether he shaves his legs, but I’ve not seen him in Lycra lately.) “And you do get plenty of idiots riding a bike.” He notes that cyclists and motorists aren’t discrete groups: most of the time, they’re the same people in different parts of their routine. “But it’s the sheer practicalities. If you’re on a bike, it’s far, far harder to do serious harm.” As he pointed out in this excellent piece yesterday, cyclists kill an average of two people a year in the UK; around 1,700, in contrast, die in car accidents.
Anyway, here are some of Grant Shapps’ proposals to take on the two-wheeled scourge, with some cautious observations about why they may not be totally solid.
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Speed limits
At the moment, speed limits don’t apply to cyclists. Shapps wants to change that, arguing that there is a particular problem with cyclists “easily exceeding” 20mph limits where they apply.
In reality, 20mph is almost always an aspirational speed in the built-up areas where such a limit would be in place. “You’d be putting an absolute shift in – it’s not normal casual cycling,” said Peter. “But the main point is that whereas even a small car hitting you at a low speed is likely to do really serious damage, the size of a bike and the physics mean that that is much harder.” The other obvious practical issue: I only know how fast I’m going in a car if I look at the dial in front of me. Will cyclists be compulsorily equipped with speedometers?
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Registration plates
In his interview with the Daily Mail, Shapps mused on how to enforce a stricter regime of licence penalty points or fines: “How are you going to recognise the cyclist – do you need registration plates?” One person who seems unconvinced by that is, er, Grant Shapps, who says in his Times interview (£) that he is “not attracted to the bureaucracy of registration plates. That would go too far.”
On this point, at least, Peter and Grant – or one of him – are in happy unison. “The main problem is that it’s completely impractical and has no benefits,” Peter said, which seems fairly comprehensive. He pointed to the vast impracticalities of enforcement, and questions over whether a number plate would need to be transferred from bike to bike, or T-shirt to raincoat depending on the weather. In the few places that have tried this approach, it has failed, other than in North Korea, which may not be the dream model for a self-declared libertarian like Shapps.
“And at the same time, you would put a lot of people off riding completely because it’s such a fuss,” said Peter. “Any policy expert will tell you that it’s bad news to reduce cycling numbers, whether you’re talking about public health, or pollution, or road congestion.”
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New laws on dangerous cycling
Look past the more tub-thumping parts of Shapps’ agenda, and one serious ambition remains: the creation of a new offence of death by dangerous cycling, correcting a legal anomaly which means that whereas drivers who cause deaths can be jailed for life, cyclists face a maximum two-year sentence.
Correcting that anachronism – the relevant law was written in 1861 – is a reasonable enough proposal in principle. “If you could put that into place, I don’t think it would be a terrible thing,” said Peter. He points to a couple of heinous cases, like that of a cyclist who knocked a 65-year-old woman down on the pavement and rode off as she lay dying, where the outdated law has had to be used.
In practice, though, it’s not clear that the claimed imbalance typically applies. “Pretty much every cyclist who’s ridden egregiously and killed someone has been sent to jail,” Peter said. “It’s extraordinarily difficult to be sent to jail for killing someone while driving a car.”
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So why is Shapps doing this?
Outside of Shapps’ interviews, there is very little evidence that this is a serious plan. As recently as last November, the department for transport poured cold water on proposals for a registration scheme; in 2019, the government said that “the costs and complexity of introducing such a system would significantly outweigh the benefits”.
Meanwhile, DfT sources appeared to play down the prospect of Shapps’ dream becoming a reality after the story broke, briefing that it would be a matter for whoever replaces him as transport secretary next month.
If the practicalities appear so utterly doomed, the best arguments for Shapps’ intervention are about optics. “A tiny proportion of the journeys taken in the UK are on bikes,” Peter said. “It’s not a big constituency. So this is quite an easy crowdpleaser.”
The inevitable conclusion, then, is that cycling has somehow, like so many other apparently ideology-free subjects, been drawn into a culture war – one which the minister for transport may see benefits in joining as he jockeys for position in the next administration. If you’re a cyclist, you probably don’t have to worry too much about fines for your ferocious speeding any time soon. But you shouldn’t expect anyone to be any nicer about you, either.
What else we’ve been reading
Sirin Kale unpacks the symbiotic relationships between paparazzi and celebrities by talking to industry insiders about what’s really going on. Nimo
If you were interested by Nimo’s rundown of the case for a four-day work week in June, you’ll definitely be interested in Ammar Kalia’s piece on those taking part in the experiment. With crushing but relatable predictability, one Wednesday set aside for work on that novel winds up spent tidying the flat. Archie
Jedidajah Otte spoke to the over-50s who have quit working. As inflation and the cost of living rises, however, they must ask themselves how sustainable this choice is. Nimo
Do let Marina Hyde guide you through the latest news on Brooklyn Beckham’s career. “Footballer, art photographer, published monograph author, model, and now chef,” she marvels. “Is there nothing he can do?” Archie
It’s been 10 years since Tinder made its debut into our lives and on to our phones. Annie Lord writes beautifully about the endless choice on dating apps that seems to stand in the way of finding real connection. Nimo
Sport
Football | The billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of Britain’s richest people, has stated an interest in buying Manchester United from the club’s beleaguered owners, the Glazer family. “If the club is for sale, Jim is definitely a potential buyer,” a spokesperson for Ratcliffe said.
Cricket | England endured a difficult first day of the first Test against against South Africa, reaching 116-6 before rain stopped play. Ollie Pope, on 61 not out, was the only batter to resist a fine bowling display led by Anrich Nortje.
Tennis | Cameron Norrie won the battle of the Brits in Cincinnati, beating Andy Murray 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Meanwhile, a rampant Emma Raducanu beat Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-2.
The front pages
The Guardian leads with “Cost of living crisis ‘to trap 45 million in fuel poverty’”. The Times says “Price rises cast doubt over Truss tax cut plan”, while the Metro’s version is “Poorest ‘to bear brunt of costs crisis’”. The Daily Express reports “Shock rates surge to fight bills crisis”, saying economists predict the Bank of England will add at least half a percentage point. The i has that as “Inflation UK: Now brace for interest rate hike” while the Telegraph says “Britain has worst inflation in the G7”. The Financial Times puts a figure to it: “Soaring inflation rises above 10% for first time in 40 years”.
“What kind of monster kills an 87-year-old on a scooter?” That’s in the Daily Mail – the victim of the stabbing was Thomas O’Halloran, who busked with his accordion to raise money for Ukraine. “Knifed to death on mobility scooter” says the Metro. The Daily Mirror’s top story is “Ronaldo police caution – Exclusive: cops act after boy’s phone smashed”. “Gold Trafford” – the Sun reports the billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe is shaping up to buy Man U.
Today in Focus
The boy lost in a Syrian ‘black hole’ prison
There’s a Syrian prison, holding hundreds of children who have never been convicted of any crime. Michael Safi tells the story of one of them.
Cartoon of the day | Steve Bell
The Upside
A bit of good news to remind you that the world’s not all bad
The historic fish ponds in Hawaii were once filled with all kinds of marine life. But the ponds became overrun by mangrove trees, damaged by molten lava and polluted from years of tourism. Over the past decade, however, Native Hawaiians have taken matters into their own hands, helping to restore these sacred ponds. Not only is it a matter of cultural conservation, restoring these ponds could also play a key role in reversing coastline erosion and addressing endemic food insecurity on the island. And it’s working: there has been a tenfold increase in the fish population since 2012. “There’s so much more that happens when spaces like loko iʻa [fish ponds] are restored,” says Ku’uleini Keakealani. “As we work to restore them, we also work on restoring ourselves as well.”
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Bored at work?
And finally, the Guardian’s crosswords to keep you entertained throughout the day – with plenty more on the Guardian’s Puzzles app for iOS and Android. Until tomorrow.
