• Twenty’s plenty: 20 Conservative politicians and Councils who backed 20 mph zones
• Ed Davey slams Sunak over Conservative conference chaos on visit to Mid Bedfordshire

Twenty’s plenty: 20 Conservative politicians and Councils who backed 20 mph zones

The Liberal Democrats have accused Rishi Sunak of “rank hypocrisy” and “playing politics with road safety” for criticising 20 mph zones, despite Conservative politicians across the country backing them.

It comes as analysis by the party reveals a list of 20 Conservative MPs and Councils, including three Cabinet Ministers, that have backed 20 mph speed limits.

Among those who have previously backed 20 mph zones is Chancellor Jeremy Hunt, who pledged his support to a 20’s Plenty campaign saying that “dropping your speed by merely 10 mph can make all the difference in preventing potentially fatal accidents.”

Other Cabinet Ministers who have expressed support for 20 mph speed limits include the Welsh Secretary David Davies and Justice Secretary Alex Chalk.

Health Minister, Helen Whately, has backed the expansion of 20 mph speed limits in her constituency saying “there are benefits for everyone from a lower speed limit – safer roads, cleaner air, and better quality of life.”

And even in Rishi Sunak’s own backyard, Conservative run North Yorkshire Council has proposed the ‘the most significant 20 mph zone the council has ever introduced’ as they believe they are ‘safer’.

Liberal Democrat Transport spokesperson, Wera Hobhouse MP said:

Rishi Sunak playing politics with road safety is a new low even by the Conservative party’s standards. It also speaks to the government’s rank hypocrisy after their MPs and Councils have backed campaign after campaign to drop speed limits to 20 mph.

This is not a serious Prime Minister. His headline chasing antics are doing nothing to rectify the major difficulties that this country finds itself in from the cost-of-living crisis to the NHS being on its knees.

These are the problems that the Prime Minister should be spending his time focussing on, not what speed limit every single culdesac should have. It is absurd and frankly pathetic.

Ed Davey slams Sunak over Conservative conference chaos on visit to Mid Bedfordshire

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey will today (Wednesday 4 October) visit Mid Bedfordshire and criticise Rishi Sunak for presiding over yet more Conservative chaos during the Tory party conference in Manchester.

Ed Davey will be making his sixth visit of the by-election campaign as the party ramps up campaigning with two weeks until polling day.

The Liberal Democrats are the main challengers in the rural Blue Wall seat, and are looking to pull off another historic by-election win after overturning similar majorities in four formerly safe Conservative seats in the past two years.

The party’s candidate Emma Holland-Lindsay is a local councillor in Bedfordshire who has been campaigning on the urgent need for more GP appointments.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ed Davey said:

Rishi Sunak failed to stand up to Nadine Dorries when she abandoned the people of Mid Bedfordshire. Now he’s failing to stand up to Liz Truss as she doubles down on her disastrous mini budget that wrecked the economy and sent mortgages spiralling.

The Conservative Party conference has descended into a shambles while people across the country struggle to see a GP and see their bills go through the roof. Sunak and his Conservative government have shown they are out of ideas, out of touch and deserve to be kicked out of office.

In two weeks’ time, voters in Mid Bedfordshire will have a chance to send the government a message that they are fed up with this endless Conservative chaos. More and more people are backing the Liberal Democrats here in Mid Bedfordshire, as the party best placed to beat the Conservatives and with a real plan to tackle the crisis facing local health services.