Lib Dems wage war on motorists: Minister says cars should be banished from town centres and shoppers encouraged to use public transport

Transport Minister Norman Baker said drivers should be hit with big increases in parking charges

Transport Minister Norman Baker said drivers should be hit with big increases in parking charges

Cars should be banished from town centres, a Liberal Democrat minister has claimed.
Transport Minister Norman Baker said drivers should be hit with big increases in parking charges so they are ‘disincentivised’ from parking near high street shops.
He renewed the Lib Dems’ war on motorists at a fringe meeting at his party’s conference in Glasgow.

Mr Baker admitted that higher parking charges could ‘damage town centres’ but he then claimed that pushing people onto public transport and bicycles would help revive the high street.
He told the meeting hosted by the CentreForum think tank: ‘I was in Southern Germany for a holiday a few years ago.
'I forget which town it was, but there were no cars in the centre at all.
‘The place was heaving with people spending money - and every single shop was occupied.’ 
Asked if that was his aspiration, he replied: ‘I think that can work.’
Mr Baker said he wants the government to give more cash to cycling schemes and public transport.
‘That works,’ he said. ‘Filling towns and cities with cars can’t work.’ 
Signalling that he would like to see swingeing rises in parking fees, Mr Baker added: ‘If we are doing everything to make sure towns are attractive for bikes and public transport, it’s right to say that cars should be disincentivised.’
Senior Tories made clear that Mr Baker has been agitating in government to ramp up parking charges but has been blocked by Conservative Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
A senior government source said: ‘Norman has been pushing for higher parking charges for some time.

Mr Baker said he wants the government to give more cash to cycling schemes and public transport

'It has been blocked and it’s not going to happen under this government. We don’t want to get rid of cars from town centres.’ Tory MP Peter Bone dismissed Mr Baker’s plans as ‘stupid’ and ‘clueless’.
He said: ‘In Wellingborough and East Northamptonshire we have kept our car parking free of charge because it has helped our businesses do well.
‘This is just the sort of madcap nonsense we have come to expect from the Liberal Democrats.
'I would congratulate Norman Baker on speaking his mind because it proves what stupid things his party says.
‘It must be very frustrating for sensible ministers to have to work with people who come up with completely clueless proposals like this.’