A senior Labour MP has branded parts of the default 20mph limit law introduced by the Welsh Government as "frankly bonkers". The policy has proven to be unpopular with a large proportion of the Welsh public and the Labour MP for the Rhondda, Chris Bryant, was asked about it on BBC's Question Time.
In September, the Welsh Government introduced the default 20mph limit which changed many roads that had 30mph speed limits down to 20mph limits. A number of major 30mph roads were exempted.
WalesOnline reports that Mr Bryant defended the policy saying: "Lots of places in England already have 20mph, and Scotland and Northern Ireland, large parts of Belfast, for instance, and Edinburgh. Large chunks of London, for instance, have 20mph.
READ MORE: Tragic mansion that was once one of Wales' grandest hotels could now be demolished
READ MORE: The one question transport chief says opponents of 20mph should ask themselves
"In Rishi Sunak's constituency, his local Conservative council [are] implementing 20mph speed limits in their area. And there's a good reason for that.
"If you just look at this constituency, in the last 10 years, there have been 1,672 casualties in road traffic accidents. Last year, there were 92.
"Twenty-five of them were serious and three of them were fatal. And, in fact, the speed limit on the road just outside here was changed from 40mph to 30mph after a long campaign by people because there have been several fatalities on the road."
When challenged about whether Labour wanted to introduce that UK-wide, he was more critical of the policy, saying: "I believe in devolution, and I think [there are areas] where we've got it a bit wrong, and where I think there must be a review of the way it's been implemented. There are some areas where it's just a bit, frankly, bonkers.
"You go from 20 to 30, back to 20. Lee Waters the minister has already said that the guidance is going to be reviewed.
"I think it should be so that local authorities can make better, more sensible, common sense decisions on the particular roads in their areas. Everybody believes that outside of school and hospital and the clinic and a chemist and in some residential areas, it should be 20mph.
"But I'm the MP for the Rhondda. The thing is, that's nearly every road in Rhondda.
"And so for people trying to get buses and for people trying to get to their clients as care workers and so on it's really difficult."
Join North Wales Live's WhatsApp community for the latest top stories and breaking news, sent to your phone
![](https://i2-prod.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/article11806006.ece/ALTERNATES/s615/1_WhatsApp.jpg)
North Wales Live is now on WhatsApp and would like to invite YOU to join our community. Through the app, we'll send you the latest breaking news and top stories.
To join our community, you need to already have Whatsapp. Then all you need to do is click this link and select 'Join Community'.
No-one will be able to see who is signed up and no-one can send messages except the North Wales Live Team. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions and adverts from us and our partners.
If you don't like the community, you can check out any time you like. To leave, just click on the name at the top of your screen and click 'Exit Group'.
If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.