British Values

When I was a child, growing up on a Salford Council Estate, it was notable how many of our neighbours switched to voting for the Conservative party, once they had acquired their first car. Some 70 years later, the UK's PM seems to be hoping for something similar. He's described the impositions of a 20 mph speed limit in built-up areas and Ultra-Low Emissions Zones, as being an 'attack on motorists' as well as being against 'British values' (https://www.itv.com/news/wales/2023-09-28/what-the-prime-minister-thinks-about-wales-new-default-20mph-speed-limit). The logic seems to be that 'true Brits' are car drivers, who don't mind the possibility of killing a few extra folk to carry on 'doing their thing'. People hit by a car, travelling at 20 mph, are much less likely to die or be seriously injured. Roaf Traffic Accidents cost the National Health Service millions. The air pollution, driven by emissions from petrol and diesel-fuelled cars, also damages health and reduces life expectancy, especially in urban folk living by busy roads. There may still be votes, however, in those 'petrol heads'.