Cycling UK Forum

Sorry to bring up a tabloid story, but this is of some interest to cyclists.

So a politician gets a pasting for dissing White Van Man - and the outcome's all over the tabloids of course. But most of us, I reckon, as cyclists, have a bit of 'history' concerning WVM. We can continue to utter the platitudes such as: "90% of White Van drivers are perfectly competent and considerate road users, the stereotyping is based on the remaining 10%" (these figures are just off the top of my head, may be way out). And I know in my mind what those 10% are like - do others have a similar view?

So what's the problem here? Is it worth a politician losing her job over it? I think I know what my answer to that is, but what do others think?

One suspects that she lost her job not because of her views, but because she did not have the foresight to see how publicly stating those views in that way might be used against her and her party. As a professional politician it is expected that one does not fall into these traps quite so easily.

Interestingly I think what could be called snobbery starts in your very first line...

661-Pete wrote:Sorry to bring up a tabloid story...

Why should you be sorry to bring up a tabloid story? I guess there are more than 10 million daily readers of the five papers generally regarded as tabloids (Sun, Mirror, Star, Express, Mail). And I've read the story in both the online versions of Guardian and Telegraph (is that my own snobbery?) so it's not just the tabloids. But in answer to the question I think you're asking, yes I do think it's worth her resigning. She was not sacked which is different, she recognised her actions were not appropriate with being a shadow minister so she made the choice to go.

Apropos of this, in what conceivable way does a white van represent "Labour Values" as was said this morning by a Labour MP whose name I don't recollect?

What are Labour's Values Ed?

"er White Vans, er..."

...or am I missing something?

Ben@Forest wrote: She was not sacked which is different, she recognised her actions were not appropriate with being a shadow minister so she made the choice to go.

I see the Guardian are now headlining it that Thornberry was 'effectively sacked'...

The outcome would have been different if she had dissed cyclists.

Ben@Forest wrote:Interestingly I think what could be called snobbery starts in your very first line...

661-Pete wrote:Sorry to bring up a tabloid story...

Why should you be sorry to bring up a tabloid story?

Precisely.

Vorpal wrote:The outcome would have been different if she had dissed cyclists.

I've just seen a clip of her apologising outside her house. She then cycles off with NO HELMET and NO HI-VIS. It is an outrage......

Ben@Forest wrote:I've just seen a clip of her apologising outside her house. She then cycles off with NO HELMET and NO HI-VIS. It is an outrage......

Great! I hope she defects to the Greens...

I'm confused. Is cycling now part of "Labour Values", too?

Bonefishblues wrote:I'm confused. Is cycling now part of "Labour Values", too?

Dunno, but it might help reduce her BMI. Now is that snobbish? Or catty? Or possibly even sexist? I bet if I said it about Eric Pickles it wouldn't be considered sexist....

661-Pete wrote:Sorry to bring up a tabloid story, but this is of some interest to cyclists.

So a politician gets a pasting for dissing White Van Man - and the outcome's all over the tabloids of course. But most of us, I reckon, as cyclists, have a bit of 'history' concerning WVM. We can continue to utter the platitudes such as: "90% of White Van drivers are perfectly competent and considerate road users, the stereotyping is based on the remaining 10%" (these figures are just off the top of my head, may be way out). And I know in my mind what those 10% are like - do others have a similar view?

So what's the problem here? Is it worth a politician losing her job over it? I think I know what my answer to that is, but what do others think?

There is a very sound justification to her losing her job ... distraction. Labour and conservatives did pretty disastrously in the election (just look at the resource Conservatives threw at it). So what should be happening now is reporters ask the party representatives why the electorate wont vote for them, why the did so badly. Parties should be doing the "We get the message" thing and facing up to their unpopularity.

But instead the Conservatives can lay in to Labour. Labour can talk about what she did wrong and how they have firm leadership that is not afraid to make the "difficult decisions" (to sack somebody .. except they resigned first). Reporters can show the picture again and again and party representatives can discuss it, etc. and nobody in either Labour or the Conservatives has to answer why their performance was a complete disaster.

And the've only got to spin this story out for another day and the entire sorry disaster (from Labour/Conservative perspective) will be long forgotten.

Ian

Ben@Forest wrote:

Bonefishblues wrote:I'm confused. Is cycling now part of "Labour Values", too?

Dunno, but it might help reduce her BMI. Now is that snobbish? Or catty? Or possibly even sexist? I bet if I said it about Eric Pickles it wouldn't be considered sexist....

Eric "The Wardrobe" Pickles, you mean

Ben@Forest wrote:

Bonefishblues wrote:I'm confused. Is cycling now part of "Labour Values", too?

Dunno, but it might help reduce her BMI. Now is that snobbish? Or catty? Or possibly even sexist? I bet if I said it about Eric Pickles it wouldn't be considered sexist....

On one occasion when I posted something rather 'fattist' about the egregious Mr Pickles on the Grauniad's comments columns, I got taken to task over it. It seems that in a PC climate you can't be fattist about anyone. Also, something derogatory about Ms Angie Lee (remember: she of the B-HIT campaign) aroused some ire right here, IIRC.

OK. OK. What I'd say about Ms Thornberry is, keep up the cycling! It might even help you to shed a few of those pounds. And I'd be speaking as one obese person (currently BMI in low 30s ) to another. If that's fattist, so be it.

661-Pete wrote:

Ben@Forest wrote:

Bonefishblues wrote:I'm confused. Is cycling now part of "Labour Values", too?

Dunno, but it might help reduce her BMI. Now is that snobbish? Or catty? Or possibly even sexist? I bet if I said it about Eric Pickles it wouldn't be considered sexist....

On one occasion when I posted something rather 'fattist' about the egregious Mr Pickles on the Grauniad's comments columns, I got taken to task over it. It seems that in a PC climate you can't be fattist about anyone. Also, something derogatory about Ms Angie Lee (remember: she of the B-HIT campaign) aroused some ire right here, IIRC.

OK. OK. What I'd say about Ms Thornberry is, keep up the cycling! It might even help you to shed a few of those pounds. And I'd be speaking as one obese person (currently BMI in low 30s ) to another. If that's fattist, so be it.

What does BMI actually show? When Mike Tyson was at his fighting peak he had a BMI of 34........