John Prescott - Broken Promise? The evidence...27 June 2002
Did he say it?
Mr Prescott has been challenged on his comments before. Far from denying them, he has repeatedly confirmed the challenge, and claimed to be on track to meet it.
On 20th October 1998, Tom Brake MP quoted the pledge and asked Mr Prescott if he would reassure MPs that:
"the Government will keep their election promises and reduce traffic levels overall, not merely the growth in traffic?"
Mr. Prescott confirmed the pledge.
The hon. Gentleman quoted both the question and the answer and I agree to keep to that commitment: judge my performance in five years.
On 18th November 1999, Don Foster MP again quoted the promise and asked:
"The right hon. Gentleman's clear intention was to reduce the absolute number of journeys taken by car. I shall be grateful if he intervenes to confirm that he intends to hold to that promise."
Mr. Prescott did intervene to say he was on the way to meeting the pledge:
I am happy to respond and to tell the hon. Gentleman that the process is already under way. In the past two years, more people have started to use public transport, which is the first stage of achieving our goal ... I readily set the target for myself and I am glad that we are on the way to achieving it.
Yet again on 20th December 1999 Mr Prescott confirmed the pledge. John Redwood MP again quoted the pledge and asked him:
"Does he know that the new Minister for Transport has said that of course there are going to be more journeys by car? Is that not a U-turn and has the Secretary of State not been overruled?"
Mr. Prescott replied by explaining that although there would be more cars, they would be used less and confirmed again:
I said that there would be fewer car journeys.
In the media too, Prescott confirmed the pledge.
In an interview for "On The Record", on 4th July 1999, John Humphries challenged Mr Prescott on his pledge, asking:
"Two years ago you said you would have failed if there were not far fewer people travelling by public transport - far fewer people - sorry travelling by car - far more people travelling by public transport. Glenda Jackson, your own Transport Minister said that traffic is going to grow, not decrease the way things are going at the moment."
Mr Prescott did not deny the pledge, instead he claimed Glenda Jackson had only said traffic would rise if they did nothing. He replied:
"I've just said the same thing, I've just said ... is if it continues like this, that is what will happen, that's what Glenda said."
John Humphries challenged him again - "No rowing back at all?"
"Not my style" replied Mr Prescott.
John Humphries challenged Mr Prescott again on 24th September 2000:
You yourselves said I will have failed if we haven't cut the number of journeys and all the rest of it and hold me to that you said. Well now the message is rather different. Now you're not saying to people the New Labour thing of it's about the environment, you're saying actually it was about raising taxes, which is a different approach.
Did Prescott deny it this time? No, of course not.
Well let me just say, in regard to the fiscal policy playing a part in reducing CO2 gases, of which the Fuel Duty Escalator was originally justified under the previous administration and we said we...
So how about on the Today Programme on 29th May 2001 when challenged by Jim Naughtie? Mr Naughtie began the interview quoting the pledge and asking:
"Is that a pledge that you are ever going to be able to say has been met?"
Mr Prescott not only did not deny the pledge - he claimed to be on the way to meeting it.
Well what is true is people are using public transport more. We know its gone up on the railways 17 per cent, massive investment on the way, we also know that we have reversed the decline of bus transportation, and the light railways people, er light railways system in Manchester, and other areas are showing that people are transferring from car journeys onto public transport. So in that thatself is being achieved.
Listen to extract - (Real Audioß format - 80K)
A month later on 3rd June 2001, back at "On the Record", John Humphries again challenged Mr Prescott on the pledge, asking:
"Your promise, back in 1997, that you would have failed, your comment that you would have failed if in five years time there were not fewer journeys by car. Now your own transport plan, your ten-year transport plan predicts that car use is going to increase by seventeen per cent by 2010."
Yes you've guessed - Mr Prescott did not deny the promise - he merely argued with the figures, saying:
"no it says it will increase by that unless you get the investment in the public sector."
Has Mr Prescott ever believed traffic reduction was possible?
Reducing traffic was Labour policy. Before the 1997 election, key Labour policy documents (the Policy Handbook, their election website, transport policy briefing sheets from Millbank) all promised Labour's aim was to:
"reduce and then reverse traffic growth."
Reversing traffic growth means reducing traffic.
On 1st December 1997, Environment Minister Michael Meacher certainly believed traffic reduction was possible. He told the Today Programme the Government would cut traffic in order to meet climate change targets. Explaining the policy to reduce CO2 emissions he said:
It is a triple strategy, a major change in the use of transport and the reduced use of cars and vehicles on the road.
Listen to extract - (Real Audioß format - 165K)
On the 7th May 1999, Transport Minister Glenda Jackson was even clearer. At a public meeting in Camden, north London, a member of the public asked the Minister:
"Will traffic be reduced in overall terms across the UK?"
Glenda Jackson MP replied:
Yes, because all local authorities ...will have to abide by the legislation that is in place which has to do with precisely that, the reduction of road traffic.
Going on to describe the traffic plans she would be receiving from local councils shortly, she added:
clearly part and parcel of that is how they are going to deal with a reduction not only of traffic growth, but the reduction of traffic in absolute terms.
Listen to extract - (Real Audioß format - 100K)
If that wasn't clear enough, the questioner pressed on:
"What I'm really looking for is a very very simple answer - yes or no is central government committed to reducing the overall levels of traffic in the UK not just reducing the rate of growth. Yes or No?"
Glenda Jackson replied:
As you are clearly interested, I am surprised you feel the need to ask the question. The Government has been saying YES to that for a considerable period of time.
Listen to extract - (Real Audioß format - 45K)
It is worth remembering that John Prescott was both Michael Meacher's and Glenda Jackson's boss at this time. These Ministers spoke for the same department of government - the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions. But in case any sceptics still think that these two junior Ministers may perhaps have been proposing policies that Mr Prescott did not support, here is Mr Prescott himself, on the Today Programme on 29th May 2001.
Jim Naughtie asked Mr Prescott:
"You see what was said before the election was that Labour would reduce and then reverse traffic growth. Is it ... still your policy if you're re-elected to reverse traffic growth. Yes or no."
Mr Prescott replied:
Not only true, its happening Jim if you look at the statistics...
Following an interruption by Mr Naughtie pointing out that traffic growth was reducing but not reversing, Mr Prescott said:
Well you just said it, first of all we'd want to reduce it, then to reverse it.
Listen to extract - (Real Audioß format - 80K)
Audio: © BBC
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