Let’s take cycling out of the culture wars – PoliticsHome
Credit: Michael Brooks / Alamy Stock Photo
4 min read23 May
Move more in 2024 thats my plan so far. Coupled with a dramatic decrease in ultra-processed foods, its working well. The combination of considered inputs and more regular, energetic outputs has certainly contributed to a newly invigorated, two stone lighter, physically and mentally stronger, generally happier me!
My job, like most in todays Western world, is pretty sedentary. We must find other opportunities to keep moving. Combining exercise with your commute is perfect for fitting it into a busy life. The rewards for putting some effort in walking or cycling the commute, the school run or just for fun last for so much longer than the journey. Immediately afterwards our bodies experience mood-boosting effects thanks to the release of endorphins, giving us motivation to keep going.
The trick is to create an environment where active travel becomes an easier habit for more people. To do that requires many mini-habits or actions that eventually culminate in a healthier lifestyle. We cant let this vital action be ignored as too difficult because of the short-term backlash we might get. The UK has the third-highest European population living with obesity, with an estimated associated cost of 58bn annually. Creating healthier places isnt easy; itll take compromise and political risk. But its the right thing to do.
I encourage every candidate standing at the next election to include walking or cycling on their leaflets
And this shouldnt be seen as a war between left and right. Weve come far under Conservative governments, mayors and councils. Some of our cities are unrecognisable from ten years ago. Roads on which only those without other options would have cycled now serve thousands a day.
When I was active travel minister in the Department for Transport, I was delighted to sign off on the inspiring new agency Active Travel England, and to appoint its chief executive Danny Williams and the national commissioner for walking and cycling Chris Boardman MBE. They work with councils to spread this progress across the whole country, finding solutions which work for the area. Their role is important, because making walking easier can often be lost within a department as big as DfT.
We also mustnt make it an argument between rural and urban areas. My Copeland constituency is blessed with lakes, rivers, fells and mountains, being situated within the English Lake District. But just as importantly, people and communities are connected by miles of public paths and bridleways, quiet lanes, coastal routes, and the start of the Coast to Coast, soon to become the 17th National Trail, which I completed with my husband last summer.
We proudly boast the UKs most popular challenge cycle route, Sustrans Sea to Sea (or C2C) from the Irish Sea at Whitehaven to the North Sea at Sunderland, some 138 miles. These networks provide huge financial and social boosts, bringing visitors and business to the area, and are also relied upon by locals for everyday journeys and escaping into nature.
It is often assumed that cycling is divisive. But the recently published, independently researched Sustrans walking and cycling index shows that people want to live in healthier places.
Most people use all modes of transport depending on the journey. Sustrans found that 58 per cent of people support more cycle paths protected from traffic and 62 per cent would like more low-traffic neighbourhoods, while 24 per cent say they want to drive less, with 50 per cent wanting to walk more, and 43 per cent to cycle more. This should reassure us to use the systems set up across government to help more people to change gear and get active.
Lets be brave and take cycling out of the culture wars. I encourage every candidate standing at the next election to include walking or cycling on their leaflets; it might just attract people who dont currently feel spoken to. People want to cycle more. We just need to help them do it.
Trudy Harrison, Conservative MP for Copeland
PoliticsHome Newsletters
Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.
Read the original:
Let's take cycling out of the culture wars - PoliticsHome
- Column | Can our spending habits help explain the culture wars? - The Washington Post - November 21st, 2024 [November 21st, 2024]
- Lawmakers Are Trying to Take the Culture Wars Out of Defense Budget Negotiations - NOTUS - November 21st, 2024 [November 21st, 2024]
- Religion-state separation is about to take center stage in the US culture wars - The Times of Israel - November 21st, 2024 [November 21st, 2024]
- Did Democrats lose on the economy or the culture wars? Three strategists weigh in - KUOW News and Information - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- In Conversation with Culture Wars: New Single It Hurts - Flaunt Magazine - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- No more faggots and Gypsy Creams! How the culture wars came for cookery - The Telegraph - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- Trump Will Bring The School Culture Wars To Every State - HuffPost - November 17th, 2024 [November 17th, 2024]
- How the mega-rich are throwing their financial heft into culture wars on college campuses - The Telegraph - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- What kind of person would drag autistic children into the culture wars? The Kemi Badenoch kind - The Guardian - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- Have hurricanes gotten swept up in the culture wars? - KCRW - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- OUTRAGE: Movies and the Culture Wars, 19871996 - BAM | Brooklyn Academy of Music - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- What is Platos Symposium, the classic book drawn into the Gender Queer culture wars? - The Conversation - October 18th, 2024 [October 18th, 2024]
- The EV Culture Wars Arent What They Seem - The Atlantic - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]
- British history is being destroyed before our eyes and it has nothing to do with culture wars over statues - The Guardian - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]
- 'Culture wars' burning in B.C.s combative election - Vancouver Sun - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]
- Professional culture wars in maternity care: we should focus on shared values, not differing beliefs - The Nuffield Trust - October 7th, 2024 [October 7th, 2024]
- Culture Wars And Unconstitutional Laws: The Threat To America's Future - Forbes - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- America is over the Moms For Liberty culture wars - People For the American Way - October 3rd, 2024 [October 3rd, 2024]
- The Unusual Swing States; The Ballot Questions NYC Voters Will See in November; 100 Years of 100 Things: School Culture Wars - WNYC - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- A South Australian MPs mad anti-abortion bill shows the culture wars are far from over - The Guardian - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- From the desk ofHarris can end the Trump-Vance culture wars. Heres how. - Ukiah Daily Journal - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- Ramification | Assassination attempts on Trump are an extension of culture wars dominating US elections - Firstpost - September 26th, 2024 [September 26th, 2024]
- Opinion: E.J. Dionne: Harris can end the Trump-Vance culture wars. Heres how. - Boulder Daily Camera - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Television Review: FXs English Teacher Educating During the Culture Wars - artsfuse.org - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- The Era Of Government Stoking Culture Wars Is Over: New UK Culture Secretary Promises End To Divisive Decade - Deadline - September 21st, 2024 [September 21st, 2024]
- Opinion | Harris can end the Trump-Vance culture wars. Heres how. - The Washington Post - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Niki Savva's Canberra: the culture wars eroding trust in our political parties - ABC News - September 16th, 2024 [September 16th, 2024]
- Americans retirement investments are at the mercy of the culture wars - Fortune - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- America is over the Moms For Liberty culture wars - The Hill - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- Opinion - America is over the Moms For Liberty culture wars - AOL - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- Episode 675: Mark Sayers Pastoring in a Partisan Age: Part 6. The Reasons People Are So Upset, The Rise of The Culture Wars, Conspiracy Theories,... - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- Breaking bread and ending culture wars - America: The Jesuit Review - September 14th, 2024 [September 14th, 2024]
- A Wave Thats on the Decline? Trump to Talk to Parents Leading the Culture Wars. - The New York Times - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Nigel Biggar: Only Badenoch grasps the importance of fighting the culture wars - ConservativeHome - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- The General v. the Pope opens a new front in Italys culture wars - Crux Now - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Episode 674: NT WrightPastoring in a Partisan Age: Part 5. Why Christians Have Bought Into The Culture Wars, How the Gospel is Political, and Advice... - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Adam Sandler is flourishing by avoiding culture wars / "Fake heiress" Anna Delvey is going Dancing / Why are so many TV shows at fancy film... - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Robert Jenrick is wrong about the culture wars - The Spectator - September 6th, 2024 [September 6th, 2024]
- Back-to-school plans impacted by culture wars nationwide - ABC News - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- Part 2: Story Circles Politics, Culture Wars, and Distrust of Government - Daily Yonder - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- I cycled 4,000 miles across the US and learnt about culture wars in the pub - inews - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- School board primaries reflect the culture wars going on nationwide - WUSF - August 16th, 2024 [August 16th, 2024]
- The culture wars have reached the countryside but Radio 4 only got under the topsoil - The Telegraph - August 14th, 2024 [August 14th, 2024]
- The 2024 Paris Olympics Has Been Flooded With Culture Wars - Junkee - August 14th, 2024 [August 14th, 2024]
- Republican Events - Culture Wars: The Axis Club supporting BANNERS - Olean Times Herald - August 14th, 2024 [August 14th, 2024]
- How the culture wars poisoned American politics and how to fix it | On Point - WBUR News - August 11th, 2024 [August 11th, 2024]
- Dont let our culture wars steal the joy from the Olympics and Team USAs success | Politi - NJ.com - August 11th, 2024 [August 11th, 2024]
- Public libraries are at the center of culture wars - WCVB Boston - August 11th, 2024 [August 11th, 2024]
- How to end America's 'culture wars' - WBUR News - August 11th, 2024 [August 11th, 2024]
- The Olympics Meet the Culture Wars - Slate - August 11th, 2024 [August 11th, 2024]
- Will IVF really be the next frontier in America's culture wars? - The Economist - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Britain's Imperial Past Has Become a Battleground in the Culture Wars - New Lines Magazine - July 6th, 2024 [July 6th, 2024]
- Culture wars spark again as House weighs massive defense policy bill - The Washington Post - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- Gaza and the End of the Culture War as We Know It - New Lines Magazine - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- Exclusive: Keir Starmer Says He Will End Tory Culture Wars If He Becomes Prime Minister - Yahoo Movies UK - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- A new Disney ride opens June 28, splashing right out of the culture wars - KSL.com - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- A new Disney ride opens soon, splashing right out of the culture wars - AOL - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- Stand up or sit down: are culture wars changing the way brands support Pride? | shots - Shots - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- A new Disney ride opens soon, splashing right out of the culture wars - The Albany Herald - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- Keir Starmer will not end the culture war - Spiked - June 12th, 2024 [June 12th, 2024]
- On culture wars and the hypocrisy of the Catholic Left - Catholic World Report - June 2nd, 2024 [June 2nd, 2024]
- Culture wars replacing fiscal discipline as calling card of today's GOP - Villages-News - June 2nd, 2024 [June 2nd, 2024]
- Back to Back's Multiple Bad Things takes a sophisticated look at the moral ambiguities of today's 'culture wars' - The Conversation - June 2nd, 2024 [June 2nd, 2024]
- Book Review: So you think the culture wars are new? Shakespeare expert James Shapiro begs to differ - The Caledonian-Record - June 2nd, 2024 [June 2nd, 2024]
- Majority of AAPI adults support teaching history of racism in schools, new poll finds - The Christian Science Monitor - June 2nd, 2024 [June 2nd, 2024]
- Michele Tafoya Breaks Down The Butker Brouhaha: 'The Culture Wars Are Running Deep' - The Daily Wire - June 2nd, 2024 [June 2nd, 2024]
- In the Alabama Legislature, it's culture wars first, retirees second Alabama Reflector - Alabama Reflector - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- Elon Musk and the Signal vs. Telegram debate - Fortune - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- The myth of progressive Catholicism - The New Statesman - May 23rd, 2024 [May 23rd, 2024]
- Plant-based meat alternatives are trying to exit culture wars an impossible task? - Japan Today - May 20th, 2024 [May 20th, 2024]
- Friday essay: 'me against you' Jon Ronson investigates the perpetual outrage of the culture wars - The Conversation - May 20th, 2024 [May 20th, 2024]
- Plant-based meat alternatives are trying to exit the culture wars an impossible task? - The Conversation - May 20th, 2024 [May 20th, 2024]
- 'Don't close down attacks too quickly' National Trust comms boss on 'culture wars' - PR Week - May 20th, 2024 [May 20th, 2024]
- Same-sex book ban reversal 'a rejection of culture war' - Yahoo News Australia - May 20th, 2024 [May 20th, 2024]
- When a Culture War Becomes a Truth War The European Conservative - The European Conservative - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- The Conservatives have chosen culture wars over climate consensus - The New Statesman - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Q&A: Kaya Henderson on Teaching Black History During the Culture Wars - Future-Ed - May 15th, 2024 [May 15th, 2024]
- Editorial: Wentzville superintendent is the latest to exit the culture-war battlefield - St. Louis Post-Dispatch - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- 'Crazy Plane Lady' Tiffany Gomas Has Begun Weighing in on America's Culture War and We'll Be Better for It - Barstool Sports - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]
- I Will Not Be Fighting Culture Wars: UK Shadow Culture Secretary Seeks To Draw Dividing Line Between Labour & ... - imdb - April 24th, 2024 [April 24th, 2024]