Please please please...Phillip Hammond...
prj45
Posts: 2,208
Comments
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I don't think he's as bad as people make out. I'm not saying he's pro-cycling but I do think he is committed to transforming the railways.
No transport secretary ever seems to stay in the job for more than about 18 months so there'll never be a cogent policy.
He's not a bad shout for defence though. Seen as a very safe pair of hands.0 -
Nah, if Hammond get's made Defence Secretary, they might make Clarkson Transport Secretary, that would be even worse.
Nobody told me we had a communication problem0 -
It's Justine Greening.
So says Wikipedia. Who could be bothered to update that?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justine_Greening
Not a bad thing having a Londoner as Transport Secretary.0 -
Interesting - her voting record shows no interest in transport apart from the Civil Aviation Bill although she appears to be in favour of laws against climate change - greener transport policy ?0
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She's a cyclist. She's asked questions in the House about Bike To Work and attended a ride in Putney.0
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From Wiki...
Greening was promoted to Shadow Minister for London, within the Communities and Local Government Team with responsibility for Local Government Finance. Within this brief, she focussed on transport and local community benefits such as the lift at Southfields station.0 -
mybreakfastconsisted wrote:She's a cyclist. She's asked questions in the House about Bike To Work and attended a ride in Putney.
I saw that she'd supported Wandsworth Cyclists and had campaigned for better cycle and pedestrian access to some of the eastern entrances to Richmond Park but I couldn't find anything to suggest that she was a cyclist.
Still, she's got to be better than Hammond.0 -
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deptfordmarmoset wrote:mybreakfastconsisted wrote:She's a cyclist. She's asked questions in the House about Bike To Work and attended a ride in Putney.
I saw that she'd supported Wandsworth Cyclists and had campaigned for better cycle and pedestrian access to some of the eastern entrances to Richmond Park but I couldn't find anything to suggest that she was a cyclist.
Still, she's got to be better than Hammond.
Apparently this is her:
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Hammond !? Another posh twit who thinks walking the beach or riding a bike in a pin stripe suit is a vote getter, fe*k off !!
Giant XTC Pro-Carbon
Cove Hustler
Planet X Pro-Carbon0 -
No, but his repeated statements that electric cars will reduce congestion suggest that he's a loon.Greg66 wrote:Oh, so anyone who is remotely sympathetic to motorists is a loon, right?0 -
mapleflot wrote:deptfordmarmoset wrote:mybreakfastconsisted wrote:She's a cyclist. She's asked questions in the House about Bike To Work and attended a ride in Putney.
I saw that she'd supported Wandsworth Cyclists and had campaigned for better cycle and pedestrian access to some of the eastern entrances to Richmond Park but I couldn't find anything to suggest that she was a cyclist.
Still, she's got to be better than Hammond.
Apparently this is her:
Ah, thanks mapleflot, that's her. I should have searched on the Wandsworth Cyclists' Campaign site.
All in all, it looks like a reassuringly practical choice of bike, notwithstanding the conservative mirror (it's on the right and looks backward...). I only hope the bike doesn't fold under the first sign of pressure from the transport lobby.0 -
Graeme_S wrote:
No, but his repeated statements that electric cars will reduce congestion suggest that he's a loon.Greg66 wrote:Oh, so anyone who is remotely sympathetic to motorists is a loon, right?
Good hatchet piece here.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/g ... -motorists
I strongly suspect his liking of separation is more about cyclist not getting in his way than the safety of the cyclist themselves.0 -
http://ladyjulian.livejournal.com/61400.html
Philip Hammond
riot girl
[info]ladyjulian
May 27th, 2010
Dear Philip Hammond,
Congratulations on becoming the new Transport Secretary. And excuse me, while I take out a black handkerchief and blow my nose during a short mourning period for your predecessor, Lord Adonis.
I see you're ending the imaginary war on motorists. I don't know if you've seen this week's Private Eye, but it points out that the Labour government bent over backwards to appease the road lobby, scrapping the 'fuel price escalator' and dropping the overall real cost of motoring by 14%. It insisted that speed cameras be conspicuous, thereby tacitly condoning speeding elsewhere. It scrapped tram schemes, ruled out pay-as-you-drive schemes, opposed London's congestion charge and weaselled down the Road Traffic Reduction Act to a white paper flag, flapping surrender in the breeze of outrage from the motoring lobby. It counted time savings for motorists as worth more per minute than that for cyclists or bus passengers, thereby weighting the balance in favour of road widening or building rather than improvements to public transport or cycling facilities.
Now that's a funny sort of war.
But never mind all that. Perhaps you were just appeasing popular opinion. There are, after all, those in the media who regard law enforcement as a personal affront when it happens to the middle classes in their cars, whilst simultaneously crying for harsher and harsher penalties for the rabble who break the law in public spaces.
No, what I was interested in was this comment:
“Cyclists need to be more aware of the risks around them. It frightens me to death when I see them pull out around other cyclists, completely unaware there is a car behind. Maybe they need wing mirrors.”
I love that you can make these sweeping judgements right after you told a journalist that you've never, in fact, cycled in London at all. If you had, you'd know that turning your head gives you a better view than a mirror.
You're not the first government official to make comments about cycle commuting when you've not got the first idea what you might be talking about. I wrote a very polite letter to David Curry on the same subject last year, although I'll admit I did call him a cockwomble when I first read his bilious froth.
But for you, Hammond, I'm not writing so politely. And that's because you admit that you're scared to ride a bike in London whilst simultaneously condemning cyclists as unaware of risks. You - get this - are telling me that I need safety equipment such as wing mirrors while completely ignoring what really makes cycling anything other than 100% safe, which is, of course, idiots. Idiots, as I said in my letter to David Curry, are just idiots on their bikes but they're dangerous idiots in their cars.
Do you know the sort of idiot I mean? Not yet? Let me try an example: the sort of idiot who might break the speed limit in his Jag and then brag about it in the media.
If you can't keep the rules of the road, matey, don't even think about telling me how to make myself safer. I'm very safe on the road myself. It's selfish pissweasels speeding along, thumb up bum and mind in neutral, who might take me out. Don't you fucking dare lecture me that cycling is dangerous when it's people like you who make it so.0 -
From Phillip Hammond in that Evening Standard article
He smiled and recalled: “My 11-year-old said to me, after I had been in the job two days, So if it's Network Rail's fault when the trains are late, and if it's the Mayor's fault when roadworks close the streets, what exactly is the point of your job?'”
Answers ? Anybody?0 -
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Louise Mensch
Top Tory Totty
Whilst Labour can only roll out Harridan Harman it's not looking good for the TrotsFixed gear for wet weather / hairy roadie for posing in the sun.
What would Thora Hurd do?0 -
mapleflot wrote:deptfordmarmoset wrote:mybreakfastconsisted wrote:She's a cyclist. She's asked questions in the House about Bike To Work and attended a ride in Putney.
I saw that she'd supported Wandsworth Cyclists and had campaigned for better cycle and pedestrian access to some of the eastern entrances to Richmond Park but I couldn't find anything to suggest that she was a cyclist.
Still, she's got to be better than Hammond.
Apparently this is her:
[pulls pin]
She can't be transport sec! She's not wearing a helmet!
[/lobs grenade]0
