July, the month when since 2012 first Wiggins, then Froome, and last year Thomas, turn Le Maillot Jaune into Le Maillot Britannique. Or in Thomas’ case Le Maillot Gallois. And off the back of this, a surge in cycling – or not. According to the latest figures Department for Transport’s figures only 6% of the UK population cycle at least once a month, just 1% of primary school children and 3% of those at secondary school cycle to school. Overall, only 4% of Brits are daily cyclists, the third lowest in Europe with only Cyprus (2%) and Malta (1%) cycling less than us.
Once again, it seems to be a myth that elite success (whether in Le Tour, Team GB’s hatful of gold medals in the Olympic Velodrome, or the cycling world championships coming to Yorkshire in the autumn) has an impact on popular participation. Yet cycling not only helps generate a healthier population by getting us out of our cars (the same data revealed that the average length of a car journey is 8.5 miles) – by cycling, we can actively reduce urban air pollution, reduce reliance on fossil fuels and decarbonise the economy. Le Maillot Jaune won’t achieve any of this, but La Révolution might. Trotsky once offered up a ‘transitional programme’ from capitalism to socialism. Mine is a tad more modest – from four wheels, to two.
1. No VAT on bikes
A signature move would be to remove VAT on bicycles. A 20% cost reduction isn’t to be sniffed at, and uses tax gathering as a tool to actively shape lifestyles. That’s something that will be required more and more by any government seriously committed to a sustainable economic strategy.
