Government approves name change- allegedly?
Posted: 29 May 2016, 6:40pm
Hi all
Opened Cycle magazine when it hit the doormat, and what do I find- ah yes, quel surprise, a piece by our esteeemed chief honcho Paul Tuohy claiming support from the government, esp the Department for Transport- I quote
Only problem with this piece of self congratulatory puff is that...we still have the same hostile government policies towards any form of transport that doesn't favour the private car. Don't notice the government blowing serious dosh on facilities/routes for cyclists- and just as importanly, reversing the crazy policies on public transport that have forced many people to take to their cars - you know, the fact that because of privatisation, we have some of the most expensive and unreliable public transport in Europe. The reusultant increase in private car usage has not been in our best interests, to put it mildly.
Cycliing Uk's efforts would be better spent cultivating the opposition parties, as the serious money' is talking about a snap election after the Brexit referendum.
The whole approach taken reminds me of when the CTC tried to cozy up to the repellent Bottomleys in the days of Thatcher. I might also add that the CTC made a tactical error at the time of the 2015 election by implying that the party most favourable to cyclists (and therefore by implication the one to vote for) was the Lib Dems. As we now know what happened to the Lib Dems, maybe that tactic wasn't the CTC's finest hour.
For once, we have an opposition leader that is actually an active cyclist- unlike the current PM. The opportunity to engage and influence party policy has never been better.
To Paul Tuohy I say this- stop trying to ingratiate yourself with one of the most reactionary governemts we've ever seen, and make the effort to do the right thing.
Opened Cycle magazine when it hit the doormat, and what do I find- ah yes, quel surprise, a piece by our esteeemed chief honcho Paul Tuohy claiming support from the government, esp the Department for Transport- I quote
etc etc. Are we really to believe they didnt' know who the CTC was in all that time, and it was just a change of name and logo that galvanized the civil service into action?The Deparment for Transport in England said they wished Cycling UK had been around 10 years ago
Only problem with this piece of self congratulatory puff is that...we still have the same hostile government policies towards any form of transport that doesn't favour the private car. Don't notice the government blowing serious dosh on facilities/routes for cyclists- and just as importanly, reversing the crazy policies on public transport that have forced many people to take to their cars - you know, the fact that because of privatisation, we have some of the most expensive and unreliable public transport in Europe. The reusultant increase in private car usage has not been in our best interests, to put it mildly.
Cycliing Uk's efforts would be better spent cultivating the opposition parties, as the serious money' is talking about a snap election after the Brexit referendum.
The whole approach taken reminds me of when the CTC tried to cozy up to the repellent Bottomleys in the days of Thatcher. I might also add that the CTC made a tactical error at the time of the 2015 election by implying that the party most favourable to cyclists (and therefore by implication the one to vote for) was the Lib Dems. As we now know what happened to the Lib Dems, maybe that tactic wasn't the CTC's finest hour.
For once, we have an opposition leader that is actually an active cyclist- unlike the current PM. The opportunity to engage and influence party policy has never been better.
To Paul Tuohy I say this- stop trying to ingratiate yourself with one of the most reactionary governemts we've ever seen, and make the effort to do the right thing.