Unfortunately in this country the lobbyists who influence government behaviour encourage them to give subsidies or support to banks, to housebuilding, to supermarkets and other private interests. This is the reason a nation that once led the way in this area is languishing behind.

The talk of “freeloaders’ on the public transport system is also nonsense; pensioners use primarily buses, and outside peak hours these are not as full as the trains.

1. The public is generally unwilling to subsidise public transport via taxes (and why should they – it means you and I paying for somebody elses personal trips when they should pay for them themselves). Continentals take a different view. Mayor Boris Johnson has been trying to put some more sense into London’s transport budgets and that is why fares have risen recently, but they are still massively subsidised.

2. There are enormous numbers of “freeloaders” on the public transport system – such as pensioners who often could afford to pay. On some routes, 50% of travellers pay nothing.

3. It has been inefficiently managed for a number of years, and new transport projects get built that are simply uneconomic and will never pay for themselves (Crossrail and HS2 are good examples).

London’s public transport lags behind many European capital cities – while prices are significantly higher. This issue should be addressed, rather than simply pushing more cars on to the roads.