With an election coming up and motoring issues in mind, could we find out which MPs and candidates:
* hold a driving licence
* own a vehicle
* use that vehicle?
No MP or candidate should refuse to give that information if asked in a reasonable manner.
Further, could we start a campaign via our MPs (plus HJ and fellow journalists) to have that information registered as part of MPs' profiles in publicly accessible House of Commons records?
That might at least start to distinguish sheep from goats on motoring issues. Mr Brown doesn't drive, does he? Interesting, that.
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Not sure what the value of this exercise would be. GB might not own a car but most of his colleagues and other MP's will probably own several. Unlike ordinary folk, I believe MP's are entitled to all manner of generous allowances which insulate them from the effects of motoring and travel related inflation/taxation so they're bound to be less concerned about such things than us mere mortals. So far as discovering any possible 'contradictions' between official policy on cars etc. and personal use thereof, I doubt very much whether any sane MP would publicly criticise the use of 4x4's in town, say, whilst at the same time doing exactly that. Of course I might be wrong....
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.... I mean, what sort of person would claim to be concerned about the environment and climate change etc. whilst, say, maintaining a small fleet of thirsty barges or insist on using executive cars for journeys which would be the equivalent of a 2 minute walk? :)
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>>I mean, what sort of person would claim...>>
I wonder indeed...:-)
Even more so when such an individual goes to their constituency by train and find their official car, last glimpsed in the capital, is waiting on arrival at their destination.
On the return journey, again made by train, a swift exit is made from the first class compartment some 50 miles up the line and into said same official car for the rest of the trip to London.
Well documented, yet the apathetic British public generally just shrugs its shoulders.
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well there is one MP (huntingdon or cambridge - cant remember where) who no longer has a driving license (for the next year at least)
He is probably the only MP who now has any grasp or idea of how the rest of the motoring electorate are abused
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That'll be Jonathan Djangoly, my MP!
Got caught speeding one time too many on his way back to Huntingdon from Westminster, totted his points up and got banned. He's been pretty open and philosophical about it.
As an MP, he's as straightforward and honest a bloke as I've seen. He appeals to me anyway, because he fights on some issues that really affect me.
He seems to share my opinion that the current government is only concerned with helping those who either have nothing or an awful lot. Lots of money spent helping those who contribute nothing, lots of concessions to the super-rich. But sod the co-habiting couple in their mid-twenties with a combined income of £40,000 - they won't miss another hundred quid as we slowly drive up the cost of living. Well we do.
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I think you will find that the Chancellor is monocular and probably considers it wiser not to drive.
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I think you will find that the Chancellor is monocular and probably considers it wiser not to drive.
I thought he was a Jock!
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the Chancellor is monocular >>
One of them must be made of glass then?
Perhaps we should now refer to him as Cyclops?
probably considers it wiser not to drive. >>
He's Scottish, known to be awesomely prudent and is well aware of just how much of the cost of a gallon of petrol or diesel goes directly to the Treasury.
So he sticks to his official transport and saves a fortune..:-)
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If you think Gordon is bad , does anybody remember Ernest Marples , the Minister of Transport who did not drive . Look at what he did to the motorist.....
Ernest Marples introduced the MOT test, yellow lines, seat belts, compulsory crash helmets for motorcyclists, Panda crossings and traffic wardens, and greatly extended the use of parking meters. These were first introduced in 1958 outside the US Embassy in London. More than 40 years before the Congestion Charge scheme, the Pink Zone parking plan for central London was introduced by Marples in November 1959 to prevent parked cars clogging the capital's streets during the Christmas and New Year sales periods. It was repeated in 1960 and 1961, by which time 10,600 parking meters had been erected in the central London controlled zone.
That man has a lot to answer for.
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"That man has a lot to answer for."
Sounds like he?s saved a lot of lives to me.
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IIRC, Barbara Castle (of 1967 breathalyser launch fame) couldn't/didn't drive either.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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What?s a panda crossing anyway?
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Gordon Brown has never owned a car and does not hold a driving licence. He also has never held a job in the private sector. He was groomed for high office from an early age by the Scottish Labour party. There has always been someone to drive him around and deal with the minor problems of life.
He has little concept of what life is like outside his security bubble.
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apparently the transport minister cannot keep a driver, they all leave him
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Gordon Brown has never owned a car and does not hold a driving licence. He also has never held a job in the private sector. He was groomed for high office from an early age by the Scottish Labour party. There has always been someone to drive him around and deal with the minor problems of life.
Aside from the driving issue lack of real world experience is widespread in both major parties and probably the Lib Dems as well. William Hague only did a wee bit of management consultancy before taking over a safe seat in his mid twenties. Among recent PM's Major had some real world experience. Blair was barely thirty when selected for Sedgefield and Thatcher although both Barrister and research chemist had the redoubtable back up of being married to a millionaire.
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Forgive me but I never saw traffis wardens, parking meters and congestion charging as life savers to me.
Maybe I'm missing something.
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Adam
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No but MOTs, seat belts and crash helmets clearly are
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You're completely right.
For some reason, I never saw those at all. One I'm on my high horse, if's hard to get me off but you have!
Sorry.
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Adam
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Motoring, for goodness sake, MOTORING !
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Ernest Marples introduced the MOT test
[snip]That man has a lot to answer for
So the rotter introduced a system to prevent unroadworthy cars from being driven on the roads? Outrageous!
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Yes, apparently he's suffered detached retinas in both eyes whilst playing rugby in his youth - one of which could not be successfully treated.
(Sorry, no motoring content.)
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Just to put the non driving MP's in context, can anybody provide a figure for the number of licences currently in issue. I've tried the DVLA website but cannot find anything.
I'd not be surprised if approaching a quarter of the adult population never learned. Probably nearer a third adding on those holding one one but not driving.
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>>tried the DVLA website but cannot find anything>>
You didn't try very hard...:-)
71% of adults in Britain now hold a full driving licence - that's 32.3 million people (2003)
Quoted from:
www.dvla.gov.uk/public/press_releases/2003/p_relea...m
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PS
Contrary to popular belief, not all 32m are driving on our roads at the same time.
Not enough cars for a start, 29.7m + plus all those abandoned/dumped here, there and everywhere.
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"Contrary to popular belief, not all 32m are driving on our roads at the same time."
M25, Junctions 11-15, 08:00am, 16 million clockwise, 16 million anti clockwise.
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M25, Junctions 11-15, 08:00am, 16 million clockwise, 16 million anti clockwise.
Exactly. They're not driving, they're parked.
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>>tried the DVLA website but cannot find anything>> You didn't try very hard...:-)
When I'm retired and have all day :-).
DVLA figures bear out my original theory that 25/30% of the adult population do not drive. Would suggest 170+ non driving MP's though I appreciate the distribution will be atypical in such an odd bunch!!
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Yes, apparently he's suffered detached retinas in both eyes whilst playing rugby in his youth - one of which could not be successfully treated.
There's more than one way to go blind. Apparently.
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