A war of words over potholes has erupted between Oxfordshire County Council member for Highways, Andrew Gant and *checks notes* the Prime Minister, with Gant claiming the PM had made a “Prime Minister made a disgraceful and untrue statement” Buckle up, this one’s a rough road.

At PMQs on Feb 11 the Prime Minister made a disgraceful and untrue statement about Oxfordshire County Council highways maintenance. Here is my correspondence with the questioner Olly Glover, LibDem MP for Didcot and Wantage

The Harwell Campus has announced a 25-year expansion plan, with better connections to Didcot and Wantage, a “walking first” campus, greater public accessibility, and new research buildings – including a brand new postgraduate Harwell Institute of Technology.

The evidence from the 2 years since Wales set a 20mph default for urban/village roads is clear:- 1,270 fewer casualties 134 fewer of them being fatal or serious £45 pa lower insurance premiums than without 20 These are big wins for communities, NHS, emergency services and economy. 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝗱𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀

Only passed driving test 3 weels earlier. No insurance. Habit of phone use whilst driving. Crashed and killed 2 whilst overtaking at almost 100mph. Just 6 years jail and an 8 year driving ban. What can be done to stop lunatics like this before they kill? www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Jim Ratcliffe is a prick. I always thought he was. He has done nothing to suggest that he is not a prick. I loathe Jim Ratcliffe and as a result I find it very hard to get behind his cycling team. He was a prick before he got into cycling. He’s always been a prick. I hope that clears things up.

You can’t park there mate..🙄

I don’t have a lot of faith in TVP and their Road Traffic team. However, I was hugely pleased to see @matthewbarber.co.uk confirm that this took place in #Didcot. Road traffic violence / speeding is the biggest problem we have. Thank you Matthew & the team for taking this step.

Remember: Alex Pretti was a cyclist. This is simply the appropriate reaction to a gigantic SUV bring driven recklessly.

@oxfordshirecc.bsky.social : 'We're making streets safer for children' @theoxfordmail.bsky.social 'Won't you think of how much it is costing dangerous and illegal drivers?'

Tears of joy! SCOTLAND HAS JUST PASSED SWIFT BRICKS INTO LAW unanimously! 4 years of asking England & Scotland sorts it in a month led by ACE ⁦‪ MARK RUSKELL MSP‬⁩ ♥️The RELIEF is unreal! Tell England to follow 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿by emailing [email protected] now!WOOP!

The Health Secretary Wes Streeting says the decade's delay on building a GP surgery in Didcot's Great Western Park is 'completely shocking'. Unusually, he's leaning in to accelerate progress due to pressure from local MP Olly Glover, who he described as being 'like a dog with a bone' on the issue.

Me returning from the pub aged 18: "I'm stealing these traffic cones for the sheer fun of it." Me returning from the pub tonight aged 45: "I'm stealing these traffic cones to put them on the double yellows by my kids' school to stop people parking dangerously."

Twats. I bet the cycle lane is only dangerous due to inattentive drivers. I suspect none of them have actually cycled it. I'll also bet that the best you would get is you asked them for alternative proposals would be a shrug, because they don't care for anyone other than drivers.

Spoke to @ollyglover.bsky.social about #pavementparking and it’s hard to not be frustrated, when you see the likes of @nathanley.com & @emilykerr36.bsky.social. He hasn’t commented (to my knowledge) about PP but here is Emily saying how so many of us feel. @badlyparkedox.bsky.social

Love this quote... Christian Prudhomme, Tour de France director, said: “Stage Two was not meant to be this long (223km) but after seeing the Lake District National Park from above, in a helicopter, we thought ‘we need that’." www.nwemail.co.uk/news/2577006...

Go. On. Andrew! OCC Didcot Councillors not supporting it 👀 Come on @andrewgant.bsky.social !!! #pavementparking

Let alone their future driving permissions… Why is road crime treated differently to other crime? IMO complacency and acceptance of road danger as inevitable have dulled accountability. Strategy isn’t enough — we need a fundamental root & branch cultural reset. www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article...

Meanwhile with the year not even 2 weeks old, we already had 2 pedestrians hit by cars in Oxford, one suffered life threatening injuries, the other killed. bsky.app/profile/oxfo...

Just ban it. Stop this being socially acceptable FFS 🤬

Key sentence here - “why do the police spend time harassing cyclists?” Culture. Simple as that. We need change top to bottom at TVP. If this doesn’t happen, then the paralysis continues and every day we are in danger. #cyclinglife

Around 250 people a year in the UK are killed in drink-driving related road crashes. This headline below does a disservice to every victim and bereaved family, reflecting outdated and dangerous attitudes that still need to change. Great post, Emily.

He's not interested. They've denied perfectly reasonable FOI requests about drivers on phones actually being prosecuted (apparently it would cost them too much to read their own database).

Maybe the police could turn their mind to why people might cycle on the pavement here. Priorities!!!

What has to happen before TVP actually support cyclists and other vulnerable road users? The new PCC needs to effect cultural change within TVP, or we will remain in this paralysis. @cycloxoxford.bsky.social @cohsat.bsky.social @nathanley.com @emilykerr36.bsky.social #cyclinglife

1967: 'Three thousand publicans marched against the breath tests' for drink driving 2026: 'Pubs blast new drink-drive limit' - front page of motonormative local rag @theoxfordmail.bsky.social today If your pub needs drink drivers to survive, your pub needs to close NOW.

A big moment for @livingstreets.bsky.social! After years of campaigning it’s good to finally see movement on plans to prevent pavement parking. But leaving action to local authorities, not a nationwide ban, risks inconsistency and continued harm to those just trying to get around.

The only target for the number of people killed on the road should be zero. With its Road Safety Strategy, the Government has massively overlooked key actions to cut traffic and achieve safer and slower vehicle speeds, which are truly effective at saving lives and essential to reaching this goal.

@matthewbarber.co.uk 👀 Please can you sign post me to your view on the Govt road safety strategy as I cannot see it anywhere? #pavementparking @badlyparkedox.bsky.social

Finally. It's only taken 5-6 years. And they've utterly fudged it by passing the buck to local authorities. The key question is enforcement. I'd like to hope that LAs will allow photos to be emailed or submitted via a portal and fines issued, but somehow I suspect most will just not bother.

So it’s out - the response to #pavementparking consultation and it’s going to land with OCC? If ever there was a time for the OCC councillors in #Didcot to stand up and take action, it’s now. I can’t help but think we will be left behind the rest of Oxfordshire. www.gov.uk/government/s...

Oxfordshire's Coalition for Healthy Streets and Active Travel (COHSAT) has welcomed the Government's new Road Safety Strategy, saying that in Oxfordshire 270 people are killed or seriously injured on the roads every year. It questions if the plans are bold enough to achieve its targets.

Pretty concerning that police are mentioned only once and that is to give them more powers which they won't enforce. Enforcing the current laws would be a huge improvement on road safety.

I am so so angry and tired of people in my division/Oxford/the UK/the world getting killed or seriously injured by car drivers. I wish the injured man from this collision yesterday a full and speedy recovery. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

As a man of the people, I will always defend trail hunting, which I know is a top priority for all my working class constituents who own horses and enjoy simple pleasures like ripping foxes apart for laughs.

At #Christmas we tell the truth: “Whichever way you look at it, you can’t reach the potential of cycling without making it much more safe and hospitable to cycle. It all comes down to that basic fact.” @matthewbarber.co.uk 👀 www.theguardian.com/news/2025/de...

over the last 6 months i have been yelled at by people in cars for nothing beyond being a person on a bike. i wasn’t “in their way,” i wasn’t forcing them to alter their behavior; i wasn’t acting like a “scofflaw.” i think there is a growing hostility abroad toward cyclists and it really worries me

We don't need more cars in urban areas. We need more public transport and bike lanes. #r4today

We have actually got to the point where we need a national media campaign on how to behave as a socially responsible and acceptable person

Not sure what the single yellow line means? How about DON'T PARK ON THE PAVEMENT ... 🤦‍♀️ (Church Cowley Road, Oxford OX4) #AntisocialParking #PavementParking #PavementsAreForPeople

The best thing about Chipping Norton at Christmas is the Henry nativity scene.

If you looking at @ollyglover.bsky.social ‘s survey - “what matters to you?”. This Olly. #pavementparking that’s out of control in #Didcot. One year and we can’t see change. Just more cars. But yeah, let’s fix the potholes for them? @badlyparkedox.bsky.social @oxfordclarion.bsky.social

Just had the @ollyglover.bsky.social questionnaire through. Brave question being asked, the reply will (based on the last year of no change) @greenparty.org.uk ? Doesn’t mention #activetravel as on option important to you either? #saveDidcot

Crucially, those looking to invest in potential car-replacing electric bikes can relax as a touted reintroduction of a cap on the Cycle to Work scheme never materialised in the Autumn Budget. Hit the link in comments for the full story.

Strong start. They must be emulating GWR from the start 😊

If we are ever going to have a real road safety strategy we need to publish the consultation on #pavementparking and take it seriously. @ollyglover.bsky.social

I do wonder if labour are just chucking ideas at the wall to see what sticks, and what the reaction is. They just seem to be fiddling at the edges and avoiding the big issues. JUST RAISE BLOODY FUEL DUTY www.theguardian.com/politics/202...