'Politicians must steer clear of the Olympic lanes for VIPs - they will cause resentment'

 
Driving Labour policy: Maria Eagle says Londoners are not being prepared for the travel disruption the Olympics could bring
10 April 2012

Government ministers should be banned from using Olympics "Zil lanes" so that they are forced to endure the same frustrations this summer as other Londoners, Labour's shadow transport secretary declares today.

In an exclusive interview with the Evening Standard, Maria Eagle challenged David Cameron and his Cabinet to forego the chance to be whisked past traffic jams when the Games come to London at the end of July.

"They can set off earlier, like the rest of us have to," she said. "I don't think anybody has a problem with athletes using the routes so that they don't miss events by being stuck in traffic, but it is important that you minimise who uses them. I think ministers and others who might have a right to use them should set an example."

With 169 days until the Olympics, Ms Eagle, 50, is worried that the Government is not preparing Londoners enough for the traffic disruption that the Games could bring.

She also fears resentment at the imposition of 106 miles of so-called Zil lanes reserved for athletes and VIP visitors to use, especially if people think politicians are using them to jump the queues.

"It could be very disruptive and cause needless opposition, and the Games may be seen by some as more of an imposition than something to be celebrated," she warned. "They are already being called Zil lanes and that's not good."

In a wide-ranging interview, Ms Eagle revealed her thinking on issues from station safety to "naked body scanners". She also confessed to cutting a red traffic light "about 25 years ago", which earned three points on her licence.

"It was coming off a flyover in Crosby ... but three points in 25 years is not bad, is it?"

Ironically, the shadow transport secretary was running 20 minutes behind schedule when she bowled into her Commons office with apologies and explanations about a late train.

"It's generally pretty good," she added, keen to defend public transport against any hint of criticism.

Ms Eagle is a true devotee of buses and trains. She has no bicycle and leaves her car, a six-year-old Skoda, in her Merseyside constituency because, as she says: "The public transport is so good."

She strongly attacked Network Rail, the state-funded track and stations body, for axing ticket office and station staff, making some women too frightened to travel at night. "I think what makes people feel safe, especially women, is staff," she said.

"What Network Rail are saying about de-staffing may have the unintended consequence of putting women off. Young people also fear attack and being hassled. Disabled people might need assistance."

The bad news for rail unions is that, while opposing the cuts, Ms Eagle is not promising to reverse them.

Network Rail has already felt the Eagle's talons this week, when she forced its six top directors to forego "excessive" bonuses of up to £336,000.

However, she believes the company is quietly plotting to push through a long-term bonus scheme paying five-times salaries after five years of hitting targets, an idea she criticises as wrong for the austere times.

"Most of us expect to be paid for the work we do - we don't expect after five years to get the whole amount again," she said.

Rail bosses can expect a much wider shake-up if she takes charge. The "elephant in the room" about costs, she said, is sheer expense of having too many companies constantly arguing.

"If you have lots of different companies with their lawyers talking about fining each other for this train being late or that bit of track not being accessible, that piles costs onto the industry."

THE former solicitor has risen steadily up Labour's ranks since being elected in the 1997 landslide. For years, however, she was best known as the twin sister of Angela Eagle, the shadow treasury secretary who came out as a lesbian in 1997.

"What I admire most about Angela is her guts," said Ms Eagle warmly. "It was not an easy thing to do. She talked to me about it first, I just wanted to be supportive."

Ms Eagle knew about her sister's sexuality from an early age. "I think it was clear from when we were growing up in our early teens. She used to have posters of women on her wall and I used to have pictures of men - it was fairly obvious."

If Labour wins, the women will be the first identical twins ever to serve in the same Cabinet. Unlike Lord "Two Jags" Prescott, Ms Eagle is no petrolhead. "I like driving," she said, "but for me it's a means to get me where I'm going, not a status symbol."

Most weekdays she hops onto a bus to grind through the traffic from her flat in Camberwell to the Commons and back, even after late sittings at 11pm. "There have been occasions walking home or at the bus stop when I've been hassled," she said. "Generally, I've not had problems on the buses themselves."

One of Ms Eagle's first decisions as transport spokesman was to defuse the controversy over air expansion by abandoning Labour's backing for a third runway at Heathrow.

However she confirms that she favours an expansion of air capacity in the South-East, which London bosses are pleading for, begging the question of where the extra planes will fly from. It is a question she refuses to answer, saying a cross-party commission should consider all the options, including Gatwick or Stansted expansion and the proposed estuary airport.

"The third runway became a political football. We don't want to have the same battle at the next election."

She has been through one of the new airport security scanners that produce "naked" pictures of passengers, and says nobody should be nervous of going through one.

"You cannot tell the difference," she promised. "We need the highest possible security at airports and I don't think people should have a choice."

On the proposal for an 80mph speed limit on motorways, she is sceptical but "not against variable speed limits". But she firmly rejects express lanes for those who can afford them. "That would not be an appropriate use for infrastructure we all paid for through our taxes."

Although Labour disagrees with the Government over some aspects of the high-speed railway plans, Ms Eagle pledged: "We won't be playing any party political games to stop it going through. We believe in HS2."

Recently, she helped Ken Livingstone draw up his pledge to cut fares - a bold stroke she believes wiped out Boris Johnson's former poll lead.

"You know, the key thing for me about transport is not planes and trains and boys' toys - it's about affordability. The system is not there for show, it's to get people where they have to go. If that's not affordable then you are constraining our capacity to grow as a nation."

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