Nigel Farage said that his new party, Reform UK, will recruit candidates to stand against “any and every” politician who backs Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s green agenda to transform British cities.
Mr Farage described the government’s multi-million-pound push to install more cycle lanes, narrow roads, and convert streets into cul-de-sacs as “madness”.
The plan, which has been backed by Transport Secretary Grant Shapps, was introduced in as part of emergency coronavirus measures. However, Mr Farage warned that the pandemic is being used as a pretext for ushering in ‘Build Back Better’ green policies.
“If measures to improve the environment really are necessary, they can only be introduced sensibly and with proper consultation, not sneaked through cynically under the guise of the pandemic,” Mr Farage wrote in The Telegraph.
“My new party will stand candidates against any and every local councillor who backs these new cycle lanes and road closures in next year’s local elections,” he pronounced.
Mr Farage said that the issue has become “very important” for his recently rebranded party. Formerly the Brexit Party, Mr Farage is awaiting approval on the name change from the Electoral Commission.
He argued that the UK “cannot afford to blow money on trendy ‘green’ projects like this” and surmised that the plan was nothing more than an opportunity for the nominally Conservative Party to “virtue-signal and show off its eco-credentials”.
Contrary to claims that replacing car lanes with cycle lanes will reduce pollution, an investigation from the Sunday Telegraph revealed that pollution dropped in so-called “low traffic neighbourhoods” after local councils scrapped the bicycle routes.
The investigation found that levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) were higher in 11 south London streets after their roads were closed to car traffic. Conversely, when Wandsworth Council abandoned seven cycle areas, the level of NO2 in the neighbourhoods fell.
Mr Farage said that low traffic neighbourhoods could be “environmentally counterproductive” and even suggested that they are “downright dangerous” as they can prevent fire engines and ambulances from arriving on time during emergencies.
“There are so many problems with ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhoods’ that I am beginning to think they represent perfectly the collective madness that seems to have much of Britain’s officialdom in its grip,” Mr Farage wrote.
In total, the Department for Transport has pledged to spend £2 billion on building cycle lanes and pedestrian paths throughout the country over the next five years.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has also promised to reduce the United Kingdom’s carbon dioxide emissions to “net-zero by 2050”, which is estimated to come with a bill of £3 trillion, or £100,000 per British household, the Global Warming Policy Foundation reported in February.
In November, Mr Johnson called former vice president Joe Biden to congratulate him after the media declared him the victor of the presidential election, despite the vote still being contested to this day.
In the phone call, Johnson was reportedly keen on building a rappour with the ageing Democrat over the issue of supposedly man-made climate change.
“I look forward to strengthening the partnership between our countries and to working with him (Biden) on our shared priorities – from tackling climate change, to promoting democracy and building back better from the pandemic,” Johnson said.
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