Labor has pledged to cut car insurance costs for millions of motorists, tackle the UK backlog and improve infrastructure development.
In its latest manifesto, the Labor Party has cast itself as the party on the side of drivers, aiming to make major progress on several factors it claims the Conservatives failed to address during their time in power.
Keir Starmer’s party says it will tackle the high costs associated with car insurance by calling on regulators to tackle the causes of rising costs.
For the average driver, the cost of car insurance is around £900, with younger road users expected to have to spend more than £3,000 to insure themselves when they are on the road, and this has long been a point of contention for motorists.
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About a million car owners had to cancel their car insurance due to the high costs
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On average, costs have risen by more than £200 per person in just two years, due to pothole damage, rising inflation rates and rising car thefts, prompting Labor to tackle the problem.
Estimates suggest that a million people could have to cancel their car insurance by 2022 due to the cost of living crisis.
Labor now promises to call in the Competitions and Markets Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority to investigate postcode pricing practices and whether they target ethnic minorities and those on lower incomes.
This will act as one of the three key promises in Labour’s Plan for Drivers, contrary to the Conservatives’ own manifesto, which aims to crack down on anti-motorist plans including 20mph speed limits, the expansion of London’s Ulez and overzealous local councils fining motorists.
Commenting on Labour’s announcement, shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh highlighted the importance of vehicles to millions of drivers across the country, but said the Conservative government had failed them.
She added: ‘The Conservatives have left Britain’s roads full of potholes and have sat back as car insurance costs have spiraled out of control.
“Labor is the only party that is really on the side of the drivers. Our plan will repair another million potholes every year, saving drivers hundreds of pounds in lower repair costs, and we will crack down on the rising cost of car insurance.”
Haigh pledged that Labor would make roads safer and remove barriers that “clog our planning system”, speeding up improvements to vital infrastructure and reducing costs to taxpayers.
Labor has also taken aim at pothole-riddled streets in Britain, with the political party claiming there are 100 times more potholes on the roads than there are craters on the surface of the moon.
To deliver on its promise to repair a million more potholes every year, Labor will delay the planned A27 bypass, which is estimated to cost at least £320 million.
This would be in addition to the £8.3 billion of funding over the next eleven years already added to the Potholes Fund by the previous Conservative government.
In its cost analysis of the pledge, Labor claims that investment in local road maintenance would deliver around £6.50 in benefits for every pound spent, compared to less than £2 from the A27 bypass.
The third key aim of the Plan for Drivers is to break down planning barriers by “ending the culture of waste and inefficiency that is destroying the planning system and costing taxpayers dearly”.
Commenting on Labour’s plan for drivers, Mariusz Zabrocki, UK General Manager at FREENOW UK, said: “In a recent survey, 95 per cent said road conditions have deteriorated, and so on behalf of our taxi drivers we welcome Labour’s new policy to improve road conditions will ultimately translate into lower vehicle repair costs and greater safety for all road users.
“This is especially important to ensure drivers keep more of the money they earn.”
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Labor has pledged to repair another million potholes every year
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Similarly, Tony Campbell, CEO of the Motorcycle Industry Association, said: “MCIA welcomes Labour’s focus on improving Britain’s roads for the safety of all users, especially motorcyclists, who are at greater risk from potholes.
“We support reducing insurance costs and removing planning barriers for road improvements, which will benefit the motorized light-duty vehicle sector.”
Labor is expected to roll out the rest of their manifesto in the coming days, ahead of the July 4 general election.