Hansard

I am grateful for the opportunity to speak in the debate. If I may, I will confine my remarks to cycling.

In April 2012, I had the privilege—along with Alison Johnstone and Sarah Boyack—of addressing 3,000 cyclists who had come from all over Scotland to ride en masse from the Meadows to the Scottish Parliament. That was a mass movement—people of all ages and from all backgrounds came together to make their voice heard and to demand that our roads be made safer and more accessible for cyclists. They set up their own campaign group, they wrote a manifesto, they used social media and they called for action so that Scotland could become a cycle-friendly nation.

That was the first-ever pedal on Parliament event, which has now become an annual fixture in the political and cycling calendars. It has been addressed in subsequent years by the then Minister for Environment and Climate Change, Paul Wheelhouse, and the then transport minister, Keith Brown, as well as being supported by MSPs from across the chamber. I am delighted that cycling has moved from being the subject of protest outside the Parliament to being the subject of debate, in Government time, in the chamber this afternoon.

Many people cycle to work or to their place of study. They derive health benefits from that form of active travel and end up saving the NHS money by living healthy and active lives, as we heard from Dave Stewart and Nanette Milne. The environment benefits, too, from lower levels of carbon emissions. That is a genuine win-win—a win for the cyclist and a win for the wider community.

Pound for pound, investment in cycling provides huge gains compared to investment in other modes of transport. We need to raise the status of cycling and promote the benefits for individuals and society as a whole; we need to build on the investment in cycling infrastructure in rural and urban Scotland and sustain it year on year; and we need to encourage the consideration of cyclists’ needs in all aspects of transport planning and transport management.

In Edinburgh, we have one of the highest rates of cycling in the country and we have a council that is providing leadership. Edinburgh has responded to the demand from local people for more investment by committing 7 per cent of its transport budget to projects that are designed for pedestrians and cyclists. We have a local transport champion for cycling in Councillor Adam McVey, who has worked hard to make a real difference. We have seen a number of investments in cycling such as the new bike corridor from the city centre to the University of Edinburgh’s King’s Buildings in my constituency, although many people would prefer that that was a properly segregated cycle route rather than being on road. We have also seen the resurfacing of North Meadow Walk cycle path, which was made possible by the allocation of £4 million of funding for shovel-ready projects that followed the meeting that I secured with the then Cabinet Secretary for Finance, John Swinney. We also look forward to the dedicated cycle path on Leith Walk, which will link with the wider cycle network. The City of Edinburgh Council has piloted 20mph zones and has rolled them out in residential areas. I therefore welcome what the minister said about the guidance that is to come.

Many more people would cycle if the roads were safer—there are many people who want to cycle but feel that the roads are not yet safe enough. Therefore, the safer that we make our roads, the more people we will get out of their cars and on to their bikes. We need to make our roads safer, less congested and healthier for the next generation.

I am pleased to have played my part in moving cycling up the political and policy agenda as a co-convener of the cross-party group on cycling, along with my fellow co-conveners, Alison Johnstone and Claudia Beamish. We have become our own version of the three amigos, whose sole reward is to ensure that justice is done for the cycling community, before riding—this time by bicycle—into the sunset. To quote Lucky Day, Steve Martin’s character in the film:

“What we’re talking about is money, real money, Amigo money. No dough, no show.”

That takes me neatly to the subject of the Barnett consequentials. Before Christmas, during questions on the local government finance statement, I called on the Deputy First Minister to match the City of Edinburgh Council’s commitment to allocate 7 per cent of its transport budget to active travel and to allocate some of the funds that are coming to Scotland under the Barnett formula to cycling. I was pleased that the Deputy First Minister acknowledged the role that cycling can have in meeting the Government’s ambitious targets, and I look forward to meeting him to discuss the issue in the near future.

Many of my constituents have urged me to press the Government to do more, and I reiterate their calls today. However, one constituent stands out. On his blog, “Uncle Kempez’s Edinburgh Blog”, he said that he had had a dream, and that he hoped that I could make it come true. He set out a vision of a greener, happier and healthier Scotland as a result of sustained investment in cycling infrastructure. It is one thing for politicians to be held to account for the promises that they make at election time, but I thought that asking me to make his dream come true was perhaps too much to ask, even of the MSP for Edinburgh Southern. This was an awesome matter—perhaps a matter for the Minister for Transport and Islands, Derek Mackay. Then I thought that, no, this must be an issue for the Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Investment and Cities, Keith Brown—after all, my colleague Christina McKelvie tells me that he spends his days making her dreams come true. Finally, though, I decided that the only person who can make my constituent’s dream come true is the Deputy First Minister, so I say to him that he should put all other considerations to one side and make the dreams of myself and my constituents come true by allocating some of the additional funding that is coming to Scotland via the Barnett formula to investment in cycling infrastructure.

There are thousands of cyclists in Scotland—men, women and children—and they are looking to this Parliament for leadership. Cycling offers the people of Scotland a great deal: improvements to health through exercise; less pollution and fewer carbon emissions; and a sustainable mode of transport and recreation. I hope that this Parliament will take the opportunity today and in the months ahead to define the kind of Scotland that we want to see: a cycle-friendly nation of which we can all be proud.