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Stephen Purcell, Glasgow council's new Labour leader, probably chose his words in a deliberately slippery way when he said of the proposed M74 extension, "We think there is a social benefit to the communities that currently suffer the traffic, congestion and pollution that will be moved out of residential areas and on to the motorway". Point one: the Public Inquiry pointed out there is no evidence of measures to "lock in" any benefits, so space will generate new trips: a Red Queen's race which will soon push traffic levels back up again. Point 2: pollution does not stay in a narrow corridoor above a road; gases diffuse.