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Cyclists causing “anxiety and fear” by “banging and throwing water” on cars in park, police say; Sarah Storey and Ed Clancy blast Rishi Sunak’s Plan for Drivers; Tory minister brands 15-minute cities “an infringement on liberties” + more on the live blog

It’s Tuesday and Ryan Mallon, feeling very smug after the Mike Burrows round on last night’s University Challenge, is back with your latest dose of cycling news and views on the live blog
Tue, Oct 03, 2023 10:12
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Cyclists causing “anxiety and fear” by “banging and throwing water” on cars in park, police say; Sarah Storey and Ed Clancy blast Rishi Sunak’s Plan for Drivers; Tory minister brands 15-minute cities “an infringement on liberties” + more on the live blogCyclists and motorists use new Richmond Park layout (credit - Lauren O'Brien, Twitter)
03 October 2023, 11:53
Cyclists and motorists use new Richmond Park layout (credit - Lauren O'Brien, Twitter)
Cyclists causing “upset, anxiety, and fear” by “banging and throwing water” on cars driven by “authorised” motorists in Richmond Park, Royal Parks Police say

The Royal Parks Police says they have received “several” reports from female motorists who claim to have been harassed and abused by male cyclists in London’s Richmond Park, the site of regular tension between people on bikes and drivers often using the park as a handy short cut to beat the capital’s traffic.

However, in a post on social media yesterday, the parks police noted that the motorists in question are authorised to drive on closed roads in the park open only to cyclists and permit holders.

The allegations of harassment and abuse include “banging on the vehicle and throwing water over the car” by “male cyclists” who “believe incorrectly that [the drivers] are not authorised”.

“This behaviour is not acceptable and has caused upset, anxiety, and fear,” the parks police said. “Please be aware that permit holders are authorised to use the closed roads. We conduct regular checks on vehicles to ensure the drivers are authorised.”

> “If we want to promote cycling, we have got to be responsible”: Cyclist calls for hit-and-run “MAMIL” to be “named and shamed” following head-on collision which left him unconscious

Responding to the allegations, one social media user who regularly cycles in Richmond Park wrote: “It’s absolutely unacceptable behaviour. Not excusing, but I have noticed quite a few allowed drivers don’t display their permit.

“There are occasional drivers cutting [through the park] without a permit and driving dangerously and it might have came from it. Please advise permit holders to display.”

However, another Twitter user replied: “These cyclists don’t know about the permits even when they’re on display. The problem isn’t displaying permits. The problem is the cyclists.”

> “They are literally driving at cyclists!” Changes to Richmond Park road layout branded “unusable” as cyclists call for motorists to be banned

Of course, these recent allegations aren’t the first time this year that tensions have arisen between cyclists and motorists in Richmond Park.

In April, we reported on the blog that a road layout change in the park – designed to provide pedestrians with a safe, segregated walkway across a bridge – instead resulted in queues of traffic and reports of motorists “literally driving at cyclists”, with cycling campaigners branding the new layout “unusable” and claiming it “increases the danger for people cycling”.

That furore came just two weeks after plans to introduce a 10mph speed limit on a section of Richmond Park were heavily criticised by local cyclists, who claimed that people on bikes will be unable to comply with the proposed restriction while riding downhill.

“It seems unlikely that many cyclists will be able to comply with this restriction descending the hill, even if they try to,” Richmond Parks Cyclist wrote on social media at the time. “Speed differentials are likely to increase and the road is likely to become more hazardous.”

03 October 2023, 15:18
Ilan Van Wilder wins 2023 Tre Valli Varesine
“We don’t agree with all this s***”: Soudal Quick-Step’s Ilan Van Wilder speaks out against Jumbo-Visma merger after storming to Tre Valli Varesine win, as pundits decry “bloodbath” following reports that only 6 Soudal riders will feature in new team

As dark clouds continue to swirl over the future of Soudal Quick-Step, as the Belgian team lurches ever closer to a merger with Jumbo-Visma, 23-year-old sensation Ilan Van Wilder provided something of a balm to his worried colleagues, outwitting and outriding a stellar field at the Tre Valli Varesine to take the first one-day win of his career and become the first Belgian to win the Italian semi-classic since none other than Eddy Merckx in 1968.

With part two of the Pog and Rog in Italy show reduced to a stalemate during a ding-dong battle on the final lap around Varese (the Slovenian duo were forced to settle for fourth and fifth on their last outing before Saturday’s Tour of Lombardy), Van Wilder definitively emerged from teammate Remco Evenepoel’s with a well-timed attack from a world-class group of favourites with 10km to go.

As the chasers – which included, alongside Pogačar and Roglič, Enric Mas, Aleksandr Vlasov, and Richard Carapaz – stalled, Van Wilder built up an insurmountable gap that was more than enough to hold off a late, futile Carapaz attack and secure the most important win of the promising Belgian’s career.

And while to many onlookers, Van Wilder’s win represents a final rage against the dying light for a team that has dominated cycling for two decades, and whose roots stretch back even further, for the 23-year-old himself, it presented an opportunity to voice his concerns about the rumoured merger with Jumbo-Visma.

“It’s been a difficult few weeks for us,” Van Wilder said after the stage. “So this victory is really for my teammates and our staff, to show we don’t agree with all this s***, and that we want to continue Soudal Quick-Step. We are strong enough. And I hope it will be like this.”

Van Wilder’s victory and post-race interview – a rare instance, perhaps, of words perfectly complementing actions – came just hours after WielerFlits reported that only six of Soudal Quick-Step’s current squad will make the jump to the new merged outfit, should it come to fruition.

That news, and the devastating impact it would have on the team’s staff and riders, prompted Eurosport commentator to post on social media: “This is not a merger. It’s a bloodbath, if true.”

Whatever happens this winter, Ilan Van Wilder’s Tre Valli Varesine, and his thoughts afterwards, won’t be forgotten in a hurry.

03 October 2023, 08:05
Plan for Drivers (Department for Transport)
“Every person should feel safe enough to choose walking or cycling”: Sarah Storey and Ed Clancy blast Rishi Sunak’s ‘Plan for Drivers’ – and say active travel “frees up road space for those who really need to drive”

After days of confusing interviews and cringe-inducing conference talks, the government finally officially published its ‘Plan for Drivers’ yesterday evening – and it’s everything you imagined (or dreaded) it would be.

“There’s nothing wrong with driving,” the document begins. “Most of us use a car and, for many, life would not be liveable without their car. For those in rural areas, it is a lifeline. A car can hugely expand the independence of a younger person, as well as keep older people connected to key services and their families.”

But what about walking, cycling, and public transport?

“Walking, cycling, and public transport are necessary in a multi-modal transport system and we support their continued growth, but they are not the right choice for everyone’s journey.

“Being pro-public transport does not mean being anti-car. The easy political choice is to vilify the private car even when it’s been one of the most powerful forces for personal freedom and economic growth in the last century. Used appropriately and considerately, the car was, is, and will remain a force for good.

“It is not right that some drivers feel under attack.”

Ah yes, because it’s motorists who are most in danger out on the roads, that’s right.

The document goes on to say that the government will “explore options to stop local councils using so-called ‘15-minute cities’, such as in Oxford, to police people’s lives” (I’m sure the conspiracy theorists will be delighted), and that it “will restrain the most aggressively anti-driver traffic management measures”.

“We will make it clear that 20mph speed limits in England must be used appropriately where people want them – not as unwarranted blanket measures,” it says, before noting that the government “will take steps to stop councils profiting from moving traffic enforcement”.

> Cycling charity accuses Conservatives of "ill-fated attempt to win" votes with pro-motoring policies "undermining" active travel success

Needless to say, after Cycling UK and National Active Travel Commissioner Chris Boardman criticised Rishi Sunak’s new “proudly pro-car” over the past few days, the plan hasn’t gone down too well with those people tasked with encouraging cycling and walking throughout the UK.

In a joint letter to the prime minister, Ed Clancy, Dame Sarah Storey, Adam Tranter, and Simon O’Brien – the active travel commissioners for South Yorkshire, Greater Manchester, West Midlands, and the Liverpool City Region, respectively – argued that the “most effective plan for drivers will be to get right behind the government’s Gear Change plan”.

“There are some very real challenges in local transport and a key one is ensuring the existing road network does not suffer huge congestion, bringing disbenefits to communities and to the economy,” the commissioners say.

The letter continues:

Every extra person enabled to walk, cycle, or take public transport for their journeys frees up limited road space for those who really need to drive. The length of the UK road network has increased by just over two percent over the last 17 years… In towns and cities, we cannot knock down buildings or cut down trees to make more space for growing car ownership. Put simply, we need to be more efficient with the roads we already have.

[The Prime Minister is] right when he says that many people rely on their cars but this shouldn’t be confused with their aspirations; time and time again, representative polling reminds us that people do indeed want freedom of choice when it comes to transport.

The freedom of choice for mobility in our areas is best provided through high-quality active travel and reliable public transport networks.

The letter also stressed the importance for Sunak not to “vilify” the concept of 20mph zones – which “help support safe walking and cycling to school” – while also calling on the government to provide an update on its consultation to ban pavement parking.

The active travel commissioners also questioned Sunak’s reference to “local consent” in his Plan for Drivers, arguing that “while consultation can bring out strong voices on either side, it should be noted that active travel schemes are broadly popular when polled”.

“We stand ready to help deliver local transport networks that provide people with genuine choices about how they travel,” the letter concluded.

“This will make life easier for those who drive,” Tranter said of the commissioners’ recommendations on Twitter, “and create nice places where people want to live, work, and visit.”

Meanwhile, three-time Olympic champion Clancy said: “Time and time again, people tell me that they want the freedom of choice when it comes to how they travel. Choices that are made possible through the provision of quality active travel infrastructure and public transport networks.

“As Active Travel Commissioner, it’s my role to help improve South Yorkshire’s active travel network. But, to provide genuine choice, that must be based on decisions by local people.”

“Each year in Greater Manchester, 250 million journeys of 1km or less are done by car,” added Paralympic legend Storey. “If even half of these were possible to walk or cycle, that improves the roads for everyone including drivers.”

> Chris Boardman urges Rishi Sunak to stick with "fantastic" pro-cycling plans, admits concerns with language of "war on motorists" policies

However, not everyone was convinced with the commissioners’ apparent desire to frame active travel improvements through the lens of making motorists’ lives easier.

“I understand the sentiment, but we shouldn’t be re-issuing our targets by making them a positive for drivers,” wrote one Twitter user.

“It should very much be a by-product of better active travel. I feel like we’re bowing to an out of touch PM with this kind of phrasing. We need to call it how it is.”

Meanwhile, Lucy Jones summed up the general reaction from people who ride bikes to the language deployed by Sunak during his latest vote-grabbing scheme: “We’ve had a number of female cyclists killed on the roads of London in the last few months… there is no war on motorists.  Quite the opposite.”

Quite.

03 October 2023, 14:25
Eight-year-old Pheobe cycles 300km in five days to raise money for homeless charity
Eight-year-old Phoebe cycles 300km in five days to raise money for homeless charity – then climbs Snowdon the next morning

It’s one thing cycling almost 200 miles over five days to raise money for charity. It’s quite another to finish riding your bike and then start climbing the biggest mountain in Wales the next morning. Especially when you’re still in primary school.

But that’s exactly what Phoebe, an eight-year-old cyclist from Somerset, accomplished at the weekend, during an epic charity ride to raise money for a homelessness charity.

Starting at the Severn Bridge on Wednesday, the star of the future – who prepared for her charity ride by training after school most days and putting in some big weekend sessions – spent the next five days cycling a whopping 300km across Wales to Snowdonia National Park.

As she completed her mammoth cycle – which has so far raised over £2,300 for Arc, a Somerset charity that provides supported accommodation for people in need – Phoebe underlined why she’s my favourite to win the 2040 Tour de France Femmes, pulling off a proper pro celebration as she crossed the finish line:

Eight-year-old Pheobe cycles 300km in five days to raise money for homeless charity

Watch out, Pfeiffer Georgi…

And if that wasn’t all, she then hopped off her bike, got some sleep, and climbed all 3,560 feet of Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa) the next morning through the wind and rain!

Chapeau Phoebe!

You can donate to Phoebe’s fundraiser for Arc here.

03 October 2023, 14:05
Chorley New Road (Google Maps)
Councillor under fire as another cyclist hit on route where two were killed after cycle lane ripped out

A councillor in Bolton has caused controversy for his response to people pointing out that another cyclist has been hit by the driver of a vehicle on a busy route where cycle lane wands were removed.

Greater Manchester Police have said they arrested a man on suspicion of driving under the influence of drugs after a cyclist was injured in a collision on Chorley New Road on Friday, the A-road route out of Bolton where two cyclists were killed last year, those fatalities coming since cycle lane wands were controversially removed in 2021.

With the latest collision pointed out to Conservative councillor Andy Morgan, he penned a lengthy reply describing it as an “accident” that “is regrettable but no orca wand would have prevented that happening” – and that the infrastructure was “overwhelming rejected” by local residents in an act of “democracy”.

Read more: > Councillor under fire as another cyclist hit on route where two were killed after cycle lane ripped out

03 October 2023, 13:37
Gravel roads set to feature at 2024 Tour de France, reports suggest

The route of the 2024 Tour de France won’t be officially unveiled until 25 October, but that doesn’t mean the rumour mill is out of action when it comes to speculating what towns, climbs, and chalets will appear on our screens next July.

One of the first rumours out of the blocks for next year’s Tour – which will begin with a historic Grand Départ in Italy and end with another historic finale in Nice – concerns the inclusion of the Champagne region’s gravel roads, a feature of the chaotic stage four of the 2022 Tour de France Femmes.

Remco Evenepoel, look away now.

According to L’Est Éclair, stage nine of next year’s men’s race will start and finish in Troyes, taking the riders deep into the vineyards and over the rolling white roads of the Côte des Bar, a renowned wine-making corner of Champagne.

Audrey Cordon-Ragot, stage four, 2022 Tour de France Femmes (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

 (Zac Williams/SWpix.com)

While the Tour Femmes’ foray into gravel covered 13km of white roads, it is currently unclear how significant a challenge next year’s stage nine could be – though if it rains, we could be in for a remake of that epic muddy gravel stage of the 2010 Giro d’Italia which, ironically enough, was partially responsible for creating the modern legend of the Strade Bianche one-day classic.

The short, steep, stoney slope at the top of the La Planche des Belles Filles has been used twice in recent years, though the last time a dedicated gravel section was used at the Tour was back in 2020, on the Plateau des Glières, where nothing much happened, except eventual third-place finisher Richie Porte suffering a puncture.

Let’s hope for more racing action on next year’s stage nine…

03 October 2023, 13:19
road.cc Podcast episode 61: We discuss Shimano’s snapping cranksets and go big on bearings

Just in case you missed it last week, here’s our audio-only take on the biggest tech story of the month…

road.cc podcast episode 61 lead image

> road.cc Podcast episode 61: We discuss Shimano’s snapping cranksets and go big on bearings 

03 October 2023, 12:33
British champion Pfeiffer Georgi digs deep for brilliant Binche-Chimay-Binche win

British road race champion (and road.cc Podcast guest) Pfeiffer Georgi’s superb 2023 ended with a flourish on the cobbles and open roads of Belgium today, as the 23-year-old dug deep to outsprint Christina Schweinberger to take her fourth victory of the season at Binche-Chimay-Binche.

After her DSM-Firmenich team split the race to pieces in the crosswind-plagued final kilometres, Georgi set a blistering pace on the tough cobbled drag to the finish in Binche, ostensibly acting as a lead-out for her sprinter Charlotte Kool.

However, with Kool unable to follow the wheel of the flying British champion, Georgi found herself temporarily alone at the front as the road flattened off towards the finish, with only the Austrian Schweinberger able to latch on to her wheel.

As the Fenix-Deceuninck rider – also experiencing her own breakthrough year on the pro scene – took over at the front, Georgi was able to muster enough strength to overhaul Schweinberger in the final 25 cobbled metres for yet another stunning, if slightly surprising (at least to the British champion herself), victory on Belgian soil.

“I’m really happy and a bit surprised,” Georgi said after the race. “The team did an amazing race. We came with a plan to split it in the crosswinds and we tried all day and on every lap.”

After ending her breakthrough season on a high, the 23-year-old from Berkeley will be heading into the winter full of confidence ahead of next year’s spring classics campaign. Is a big performance at Flanders and Roubaix on the horizon?

03 October 2023, 11:15
“I became a shadow of myself”: Nacer Bouhanni announces retirement from cycling

The famed Class of 1990 has lost yet another member, as Nacer Bouhanni joins Peter Sagan, Thibaut Pinot, and Tom Dumoulin in the retirement lounge, the combative French sprinter announcing yesterday that last Thursday’s Circuit Franco-Belge was his last race as a professional.

The 33-year-old – who took 70 wins during a successful if slightly tumultuous 13-year-long career, including three stages apiece at the Giro, Vuelta, Paris-Nice, and Dauphiné, as well as the points jersey at the 2014 Giro – has spent the past year and half struggling to regain his fitness and speed after fracturing his first cervical vertebrae in a horror crash at the 2022 Tour of Turkey.

“After my serious accident last year that cost me a severe fracture of my cervical cord and a lot of rehab, I became a shadow of myself,” the Arkéa Samsic rider said in an Instagram post announcing his decision to retire.

“I fought body and soul to try to get back to my level in vain. Life decided differently. I’ve been seriously contemplating this decision for several months.

“I started cycling at age six, and it quickly became a passion. 70 victories, ups, downs, beautiful and not so beautiful encounters, joys, disappointments, but I’ll keep only the best.”

03 October 2023, 10:41
“A baffling step back for a nation facing the major challenges of this century”: Originator of 15-minute cities concept tells Rish Sunak to “pull himself together” over conspiracy theories

With every Conservative MP and their dog lining up to label 15-minute cities “sinister” and an attack on our civil liberties, by placing the local shop within walking distance (how dare they?!), the originator of the concept has described Rishi Sunak’s conspiracy theory-inspired stance as “unacceptable”, and urged the prime minister to “pull himself together”.

> Why is the 15-minute city attracting so many conspiracy theories? 

“The 15-Minute City story machine is at it again, and this time from the voice of the British Prime Minister. What a sad world we live in!” Carlos Moreno, the Paris-based urbanist who coined the term back in 2015, told Forbes’ Carlton Reid.

Moreno told Reid that the government’s attack on the concept “raises deep concerns” and signifies “a baffling step back for a nation facing, like all others, the major challenges of this century, primarily the climate emergency”.

He continued: “Whether it's about urban speed restrictions, dedicated bus lanes, LTNs, leniency towards road infractions, or decisions urging cities to stop adopting the 15-Minute City model, these stances overlook the pressing issues of [climate change].”

“Last spring, my family and I faced harassment, including death threats, from conspiracy theorists fuelled by false information.

“Associating the 15-Minute City again with so-called liberty-restricting measures is tantamount to aligning with the most radical and anti-democratic elements of this movement.”

Calling on Sunak to “reconsider his stance” and “avoid rash statements”, Moreno also posted on Twitter yesterday: “At such a high level of responsibility, it is unacceptable to repeat conspiracy theories. I solemnly ask him to pull himself together.”

03 October 2023, 10:04
New £24 million road upgrade to be altered over fears cyclists might hit pedestrians on “too narrow and dangerous” footpath

The Cambridge route features a segregated cycle lane and other upgrades, but leaves the pavement as narrow as 90cm in some places, raising concerns about access for disabled people and risk of collisions involving cyclists using the adjacent cycle lane.

Milton Road Cambridge (images by councillor Delowar Hossain/Facebook)

Read more: > New £24 million road upgrade to be altered over fears cyclists might hit pedestrians on “too narrow and dangerous” footpath

03 October 2023, 10:00
Oof! Soudal Quick-Step 1-0 Chelsea

Now that’s savage…

Unfortunately, Fulham’s inept back line ensured that this brilliantly cutting football/cycling crossover tweet was quickly out of date last night, but it did cap off a stunning performance from Soudal Quick-Step’s social media manager, who provided the team’s followers with a wonderfully in-depth history of Legnano during the quieter moments of yesterday’s Coppa Bernocchi:

Someone’s definitely making the case for keeping their job if and when this whole Jumbo-Visma merger saga reaches a conclusion…

03 October 2023, 09:55
While we’re on the subject of anti-active travel conspiracies…
Oxford Safe Streets protest (@PedalandPost/Twitter)

> Proof anti-LTN group falsely claimed cyclists drove to safety protest for "photo op" leads local paper staffer to apologise

03 October 2023, 09:21
Nothing to see here, just another Conservative minister relaying 15-minute city conspiracy theories: Andrew Bowie says 15-minute cities are “an infringement on people’s liberties”… while also claiming they’re “an eminently Conservative thing to support”

More from the government’s Plan for Votes – sorry, I mean Drivers (I promise we’ll talk about something else in a minute)…

At the Conservative conference yesterday, transport secretary Mark Harper decided to cast off any aspersions that he belongs to a serious government by jumping deep into the conspiracy well and referring to the concept of 15-minute cities – you know, the schemes which try to ensure that all your local necessities are within a 15 minute walk or cycle – as a “sinister” attempt by local councils to “decide how often you go to the shops, and that they can ration who uses the roads and when, and that they police it all with CCTV.”

On BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, it was left up to Andrew Bowie, the minister for nuclear and networks, bless him, to defend Harper’s stance. So, what did Bowie come up with?

“There are proposals out there for 15-minute cities, and I think people are worried that this is an infringement on their liberties, on their freedoms, on their ability to choose where they go to access services. We do not want local authorities dictating to people that they must choose to access those services within 15 minutes of their house,” Bowie said, while impressively maintaining a straight face.

However, he did add: “Of course, we want more services locally and close to where people live. And that’s an eminently Conservative thing to support.”

But, we’re going to ditch all our Conservative beliefs and principles with a transparent attempt to stir up controversy and woo conspiracy theorists in a desperate bid to stay in power. Well, he didn’t say that bit, but you know what I mean.

“But we’re not going to dictate to people that that they must only access a service, or go to the shops, with 15-minutes,” he actually said. So, same thing really.

> Tory MP attacks 15-minute city concept with known conspiracy theory

When the presenter pointed out that the Conservatives were basically “pretending” and “making up” concerns about 15-minute cities, and “spreading conspiracy theories”, Bowie limply doubled down, pointing out that those very theories were popping up on the doorsteps and on online forums, so they must be extremely real.

Of course, Bowie and Harper aren’t the first Tory MPs to engage with the conspiracy-laden opposition to 15-minute cities – and judging by the state of political discourse at the moment, they won’t be the last…

Ryan Mallon

After obtaining a PhD, lecturing, and hosting a history podcast at Queen’s University Belfast, Ryan joined road.cc in December 2021 and since then has kept the site’s readers and listeners informed and enthralled (well at least occasionally) on news, the live blog, and the road.cc Podcast. After boarding a wrong bus at the world championships and ruining a good pair of jeans at the cyclocross, he now serves as road.cc’s senior news writer. Before his foray into cycling journalism, he wallowed in the equally pitiless world of academia, where he wrote a book about Victorian politics and droned on about cycling and bikes to classes of bored students (while taking every chance he could get to talk about cycling in print or on the radio). He can be found riding his bike very slowly around the narrow, scenic country lanes of Co. Down.

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38 comments

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HoarseMann | 1 year ago
3 likes

Had a new cycle path obstruction experience this morning. Came around a bend on a narrow section to find a bloke crouching down in the middle of the path doing something in his rucksac. I said hello, slowed to a crawl and as I edged past noticed he was cooking up heroin! Straight up caramel coloured liquid in a metal spoon over flame. He was using the rucksac as a windbreak for the lighter. Whatever next?!

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to HoarseMann | 1 year ago
2 likes

Was going to challenge you that it might have been EPO but then those dopers probably prefer the road to the cycle path.

Avatar
Rendel Harris replied to HoarseMann | 1 year ago
5 likes

He heard someone saying have you seen the way all those lycra louts go shooting up that path and thought...

Avatar
the little onion | 1 year ago
18 likes

I'm genuinely alarmed by this. Firstly, specifically on cycling, this will create anti-cycling and anti-pedestrian culture and road design, more than at present. We can expect LTNs and 20mph zones to be ripped up, segregated cycle lanes removed, and more 'gerroff my road' intimidation from drivers.

 

Secondly, as a citizen, it is frightening to see ministers using nonsense conspiracy theories around 15 minute cities repeatedly in interviews. It's the UK version of QAnon. Full Trump. And as with all conspiracy theories, whilst on the surface they appear either funny or loony, scratch the surface and it all becomes deeply unpleasant.

Avatar
HoldingOn replied to the little onion | 1 year ago
14 likes

Quote:

When the presenter pointed out that the Conservatives were basically “pretending” and “making up” concerns about 15-minute cities, and “spreading conspiracy theories”, Bowie limply doubled down, pointing out that those very theories were popping up on the doorsteps and on online forums, so they must be extremely real.

Someone makes up some nonsense. An MP repeats that nonsense to the public. The public then repeats the nonsense to the MP. MP takes that as proof that nonsense is true and they repeat more nonsense.

What a wonderful world we live in.

Avatar
IanMK replied to the little onion | 1 year ago
8 likes

Let's see if I'm following this correctly. Firstly, the Tories are massively in favour of small government and would consider this a core belief. Presumably as they feel it's more democratic. The Tories then win a massive majority and subsequently come up with an active travel plan that intructs those that they've devolved the power to to be "bold". Not unsurprisingly, the more progressive devolved powers are the boldest. The Tories then attack those local authorities for trying to fulfill the Tory objective namely that 50% of short journeys in towns and cities are completed using active travel. (Is this gaslighting?)

They then threaten to take back some of the powers that they've devolved (very big government) whilst at the same time suggesting that some local authorties are about to unilaterally embark on creating authoritarian enclaves where they would restrict movement, and that somehow this would happen right under the noses of government with no power to do anything.

I'm beginning to feel sorry for Andrew Bowie if he's been sent out to explain this twisted logic.

Avatar
Tom_77 replied to the little onion | 1 year ago
5 likes

the little onion wrote:

Secondly, as a citizen, it is frightening to see ministers using nonsense conspiracy theories around 15 minute cities repeatedly in interviews. It's the UK version of QAnon. Full Trump. And as with all conspiracy theories, whilst on the surface they appear either funny or loony, scratch the surface and it all becomes deeply unpleasant.

A quick preview of Rishi Sunak's conference closing speech.

Avatar
chrisonabike replied to the little onion | 1 year ago
3 likes

I think this divisiveness and controversy we're seeing is clearly being driven by an establishment figure, using their massive media reach. They want to fuel enmity and outrage for their own benefit. Yes it's all the fault of a Zimbabwean care worker with a following of literally a few thousands, Cycling Mikey. Poor Rishi is just a pawn...

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