Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Commuting, Day rides, Audax, Incidents, etc.
ferdinand
Posts: 376
Joined: 31 Oct 2014, 6:59pm

Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by ferdinand »

Yesterday PM from the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group:

"Taken 2.5 hours to get from Victoria to Westminster thanks to black cabs demo. How do I sign up for @Uber so I never have to use one again?"
https://twitter.com/IanAustinMP/status/ ... 5599025152

It is just over a mile, so about a 15 minute walk.

:roll:

F
mercalia
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Joined: 22 Sep 2013, 10:03pm
Location: london South

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by mercalia »

oh they are special people, they shouldnt have to rub shoulders with the (other) subhuman of the species, didnt u know that?
reohn2
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Joined: 26 Jun 2009, 8:21pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by reohn2 »

ferdinand wrote:Yesterday PM from the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group:

"Taken 2.5 hours to get from Victoria to Westminster thanks to black cabs demo. How do I sign up for @Uber so I never have to use one again?"
https://twitter.com/IanAustinMP/status/ ... 5599025152

It is just over a mile, so about a 15 minute walk.

:roll:

F


Isn't this the whole problem with modern UK society and transport?
People expect to want to go somewhere and just as if by magic be there.
The chap who invents teleporting will instantly be a multi billionaire....... ........whilst increasing the average body fat of the human race by X times and other associated health issues similarly.
-----------------------------------------------------------
"All we are not stares back at what we are"
W H Auden
ferdinand
Posts: 376
Joined: 31 Oct 2014, 6:59pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by ferdinand »

It gets better.

He turns out to have been in his car.

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old_windbag
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Joined: 19 Feb 2015, 3:55pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by old_windbag »

I think the chap who invents teleporting of MP's to a far distant planet, one way, is worthy of the billionaire club. If you go online to paliamentary expenses, even though they've curbed their excesses there is still a lot to question....regular first class train travel when 2nd would be fine etc. Though in Mr Austins case the taxi fare may be far lower than the expense claim for wear and tear of artisan crafted leather shoes.

On a side note to do with the distance, I think it was nicholas crane on his maps programme who pointed out to underground passengers how short the distance was between particular stations. It was just that people viewed the underground map ( as it has no defined linear scale ) and went station to station.
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661-Pete
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Location: Sussex

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by 661-Pete »

Err.... steady on guys. :)

I just looked up the story on what may be a more trustworthy source: I can't vouch for it.

It seems this guy had driven down from the West Midlands that day, and it was just the last mile of his fairly long journey in which he got caught in a snarl-up. This sort of thing has happened to me oodles of times (usually on the M25 :roll: ) and I won't deny just how annoying it can be! I don't know why he didn't go all the way by train but he may have had good reasons.

He apparently responded to people who tweeted "why didn't you walk?" with the reply that he "couldn’t abandon his car on a London road." Seems reasonable to me. One extra parked car on the street would only make things worse!

I don't know what the black cabbies' dispute is about, but I can understand people feeling a grievance. I'm sure that on those occasions when I partook in a Critical Mass on our capital's streets, there were some folks about that would have been not wholly favourable to us cyclists. That's human nature! And I've had the odd 'moment' with a black cabbie myself....
Suppose that this room is a lift. The support breaks and down we go with ever-increasing velocity.
Let us pass the time by performing physical experiments...
--- Arthur Eddington (creator of the Eddington Number).
axel_knutt
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Joined: 11 Jan 2007, 12:20pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by axel_knutt »

“I'm not upset that you lied to me, I'm upset that from now on I can't believe you.”
― Friedrich Nietzsche
AlaninWales
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Joined: 26 Oct 2012, 1:47pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by AlaninWales »

Rochester Row car park? NCP Victoria? Guildhouse Street? Park up and walk (you know it makes sense), it would be quite simple to have planned to do that. Better still, pack a folding bike, park further out and cycle in.
beardy
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Joined: 23 Feb 2010, 4:10pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by beardy »

Are we not setting the bar a little too high here?

Is it "all or nothing"?

If anybody could persuade me to take my car to London (which wouldnt be easy) then I would want to do the whole journey in the thing and not break the journey up with extra load transfer between car and bike. I bet he already has a parking place at Westminster, so this would save putting an NCP charge on his expenses.

Shouldnt we be saving the condemnation for all those people who's journey was within London and could have not touched the car at all that day.
AlaninWales
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Joined: 26 Oct 2012, 1:47pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by AlaninWales »

I don't think the bar is set particularly high. Certainly when I have to drive to London, I put the Mezzo in the boot and park in the outskirts, usually a shopping centre car-park (sometimes the hotel if staying over). This allows me to avoid the congested centre (where driving is never a good idea) and take advantage of the lower parking (and hotel) charges in the peripheries.

I'm sure MPs have allocated parking spaces. As many businesses are now doing, it would be advantageous if these were reduced: Healthier lifestyles are proven to aid mental abilities (and they need all the help they can get) and fewer cars in Westminster would mean less opportunity for car-bombing the HofP, which must be a Good Thing.




Musn't it? :lol:
Anyway, fewer MPs driving, more cycling would definitely be good.
pete75
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Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by pete75 »

His Twitter strap line or whatever it's called reads ' MP for Dudley, the greatest place in the world. Cyclist and Villa fan.
At work or on my bike'

There's a couple things wrong there, description of Dudley and the at work. Is a job where all you really have to do is turn up when the whips tell you and vote how they say really work as it's generally understood. Oh and I guess most true Dudley folk will support the Baggies.
'Give me my bike, a bit of sunshine - and a stop-off for a lunchtime pint - and I'm a happy man.' - Reg Baker
maxcherry
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Joined: 22 Mar 2011, 5:53pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by maxcherry »

Wouldn't the council or whomever have been forewarned that there was going to be a protest taking place. Surly he would of checked his journey before hand ?

Bike protest and the likes get publicized so i am sure the taxi one would have as well
Honestly chaps, I'm a female!
TonyR
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Joined: 31 Aug 2008, 12:51pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by TonyR »

old_windbag wrote:On a side note to do with the distance, I think it was nicholas crane on his maps programme who pointed out to underground passengers how short the distance was between particular stations. It was just that people viewed the underground map ( as it has no defined linear scale ) and went station to station.


I find this London Tube map with the walking times between stations on it useful. After walking one or two you can recalibrate the times to your own walking speed.
http://www.tubehotels.com/blog/wp-conte ... k-map1.jpg
Tangled Metal
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Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by Tangled Metal »

Ppl need to get real. Man drives from one town to London and decides to sit in car during a protest that blocks roads for 2.5 hours rather than park up. Wow! Lock the guy up, castigate him on Twitter and forums. Give the guy a break.
So while sat in a car he's to Google carpark near his location then drive to it when the roads are in gridlock due to protest. Yes a load of car parks nearby, but if he didn't know where they were or get there then not helpful after the fact.
He cycles in London and elsewhere so I'm guessing he commutes that way when staying in London. Parking out of London then riding in sounds good but do you know what he was carrying? Could have boxes of paperwork, clothes for several weeks or other stuff that would not fit on a folding bike. Easy to suggest the folding bike without those facts about what he needed and was carrying in the car.

All this story seems to me as a good reason for MPs to not use Twitter. You post something as a lighthearted banter and because you are not face to face with the reader to clarify any offence or misunderstanding it triggers a backlash. I bet he wishes he'd not posted it. That was his only "crime" as far as I'm concerned. The backlash is just ridiculous MP bashing.
karlt
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Joined: 15 Jul 2011, 2:07pm

Re: Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

Post by karlt »

ferdinand wrote:Yesterday PM from the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Cycling Group:

"Taken 2.5 hours to get from Victoria to Westminster thanks to black cabs demo. How do I sign up for @Uber so I never have to use one again?"
https://twitter.com/IanAustinMP/status/ ... 5599025152

It is just over a mile, so about a 15 minute walk.

:roll:

F


Bloody hell you walk fast! I could just about manage a mile in 15 minutes, but I wouldn't half be shifting. Most people walk at around 2.5-3.5mph IME.
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