Dugher says he’s not a “train-spotter” and he wants to champion motorists

Michael Dugher, the new Shadow Transport Secretary, has said that he wants to start championing motorists, by focussing on issues such as potholes, expensive insurance, carriageway closures, and fuel tax.

Dugher made this announcement in defence of car users in his first interview since he became Shadow Transport Secretary, replacing Mary Creagh who became Shadow Secretary of State for International Development following Jim Murphy’s resignation.

He told the told the Daily Mirror:

“I want to be a ­Transport Secretary not a train-spotter and there have been too many ­train-spotters in the job. When people demonise the motorist it’s ­offensive. Look at the huge increase in women drivers. That’s been a great thing. It’s about women’s independence and it’s about safety. Often women choose to drive when it’s dark because they feel safer.”

“I haven’t got a magic wand and a big bag of cash but there are things you can do. You can do more  co-ordination in terms of street works, better management. At the moment nobody runs the road network.” 

Addressing peoples’ environmental concerns when it comes to using cars, he said:

“Being ­unashamedly a pro road user, which I am, does not mean I am anti-environment or  anti-rail. What’s the biggest curse of the motorist? Congestion. And it’s congestion that causes the most ­problems in the environment.

“It’s stopping and starting on short journeys – 11% of car ­journeys are under a mile. If car drivers switched just one car journey a month to a bus or coach that would mean one million fewer car journeys and save two million tons of CO2.”

He also said that in light of the Government’s recent sell-off of East Coast Mainline, that he’s in favour of public sector involvement (although he refused to answer questions about renationalising the railways), he explained, “When the public sector run it we have a better railway. It’s better value for money as well. I cannot understand why the Government is so opposed to the public sector.”