Ian Austin MP - Couldn't make it up

[Flinders]

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.

As he talked about signing up for uber, and specified an in-London distance, the original tweet clearly suggested that it was an in-London journey.
I have no idea why politicians tweet. You need to be far cleverer than most MPs are to be accurate, not to be misleading, and not to make an idiot out of yourself, when you have so few words.

[old_windbag]

TonyR that tube map with walking times is excellent. It shows the non linear distances but also demonstrates just how close many in zone 1 are to each other.... if you make the time it'd be worth the savings I'd imagine. The tube map is an excellent design to incorporate a number representing walk time on each sector would be easy ( but not in interests of TFL I suppose ), fortunately it's rare I have to use it as I'm up north. My visits were to the motor show a few times in the late eighties and more recently regular trips to imperial college. To have so many interesting places on your doorstep must be good and the UK's big events tend to be london centric but I know when driving back from various places in the south east when I saw the sign on the A1 "Doncaster, The North" It was a nice feeling.... homeward bound away from the hubub.

[Psamathe]

I have no idea why politicians tweet. You need to be far cleverer than most MPs are to be accurate, not to be misleading, and not to make an idiot out of yourself, when you have so few words.

I think with politicians on Twitter its a question of "when" rather than "if". Even "our Dave" LOL

Ian

[[XAP]Bob]

I have no idea why politicians tweet. You need to be far cleverer than most MPs are to be accurate, not to be misleading, and not to make an idiot out of yourself, when you have so few words.

I made this [letter] very long, because I did not have the leisure to make it shorter.

It's very hard to write anything meaningful in 140 charac

[blackbike]

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.



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.

Many people will not walk for five minutes, never mind 15.

While sitting outside a pub in Knutsford town centre, as I often do, it is not unusual to see the same car come slowly round the one way system two or three times, obviously looking for a rare parking space on the street. A few hundred yards away there are plenty of spaces all the time.

[captain offensive]

I think the main question is what were the cabbies protesting at? Maybe he should be asking the London Mayor which, since that gentleman started moonlighting, should be easy as they now share a place of work.

[MikeF]

Surely the point is he's a cyclist isn't he? Why then is he complaining about traffic jams when he's driving a car? Should he not have put his bike on the train and ridden the last part, and demonstrated his enthusiasm for cycling? Or even used a Boris bike from the station? The vast majority of people never drive into central London.

[661-Pete]

The vast majority of people never drive into central London.

Well, I wouldn't, for sure, but then I'm not an MP and I seldom have occasion to go into London anyway. I've not once paid the Congestion Charge, since its inception. I rarely drive into Brighton either, which is much nearer for me, Brighton doesn't have a CC but its car parking charges are through the roof. And it has a reasonably good train service, and is within cycling distance for me if I'm feeling energetic enough...

But I would concede that MPs may have a special case to make. I don't know what stuff they need to carry. Even so, if they drive in and then get held up in a snarl-up, they should accept it as part of the way of things in our esteemed Capital city...

[beardy]

A bit of a confession about doing the opposite of this case.

When I was a motorcycle courier in one of the northern cities, it was common practice on getting a delivery for London to park up the motorcycle and take a train down to London instead, giving us a day off off from the normal routine.
It was generally quicker and more reliable too. Though the customers would not have been happy if they knew.
You were expected to take your helmet with you for appearance's sake.

[DaveP]

What's all the fuss about?
It's just one more example of the solidarity between New Labour and anything resembling organised labour.
He's my MP I must confess I thought he had a little more about him than to cut loose with an own goal like this.