Te M4 bus lane
Discussion
The M4 bus lane will be abolished. Thanks to the Tories who saw through all the hype not to mention the award of some honour to the civil servant who pushed it through. Pretty astute of them you have to admit.
Mind you they had some help. John Griffin, the chap who runs the London minicap firm Addison Lee was one of its biggest critics as his vehicles were banned from using it although ‘black cabs’ could, giving them, he felt, an advantage. Mind you, it didn’t stop its cabs using the lane as there were 200 outstanding fines against Addison Lee for using the bus lane as well as 130 outstanding court summonses.
They must be relieved therefore to hear that The CPS announced it was dropping all the fines and the summonses.
For those who don’t know Griffin Lee, his firm, Addision Lee, contributed £150,000 in cash to the Tories, entitling him to buy his way onto the Leaders’ Group of donors and so meet Tories on a regular basis at drinky poos, lunches and dinners. Oh, and those who followed the general election run up might remember that Addison Lee cabs donated £4,000 worth of fares to the Tories.
Source: Private Eye, 1274, pp8.
Mind you they had some help. John Griffin, the chap who runs the London minicap firm Addison Lee was one of its biggest critics as his vehicles were banned from using it although ‘black cabs’ could, giving them, he felt, an advantage. Mind you, it didn’t stop its cabs using the lane as there were 200 outstanding fines against Addison Lee for using the bus lane as well as 130 outstanding court summonses.
They must be relieved therefore to hear that The CPS announced it was dropping all the fines and the summonses.
For those who don’t know Griffin Lee, his firm, Addision Lee, contributed £150,000 in cash to the Tories, entitling him to buy his way onto the Leaders’ Group of donors and so meet Tories on a regular basis at drinky poos, lunches and dinners. Oh, and those who followed the general election run up might remember that Addison Lee cabs donated £4,000 worth of fares to the Tories.
Source: Private Eye, 1274, pp8.
The fact they've run up all those fines says it all about how much his drivers obey the rules of the road.
Maybe he'd have benefited his company and others by spending that £150k taking all his drivers on advanced driver training. As a daily motorcycle commuter in London his drivers are consistently fitting the same low level of driving standard!
Maybe he'd have benefited his company and others by spending that £150k taking all his drivers on advanced driver training. As a daily motorcycle commuter in London his drivers are consistently fitting the same low level of driving standard!
Edited by sjtscott on Saturday 30th October 21:16
Derek Smith said:
Mind you they had some help. John Griffin, the chap who runs the London minicap firm Addison Lee was one of its biggest critics as his vehicles were banned from using it although ‘black cabs’ could, giving them, he felt, an advantage.
Pretty much every other vehicle that uses the M4 bus lane is a minicab of one firm or another. Are they not supposed to?Derek Smith said:
The M4 bus lane will be abolished. Thanks to the Tories who saw through all the hype not to mention the award of some honour to the civil servant who pushed it through. Pretty astute of them you have to admit.
Mind you they had some help. John Griffin, the chap who runs the London minicap firm Addison Lee was one of its biggest critics as his vehicles were banned from using it although ‘black cabs’ could, giving them, he felt, an advantage. Mind you, it didn’t stop its cabs using the lane as there were 200 outstanding fines against Addison Lee for using the bus lane as well as 130 outstanding court summonses.
They must be relieved therefore to hear that The CPS announced it was dropping all the fines and the summonses.
For those who don’t know Griffin Lee, his firm, Addision Lee, contributed £150,000 in cash to the Tories, entitling him to buy his way onto the Leaders’ Group of donors and so meet Tories on a regular basis at drinky poos, lunches and dinners. Oh, and those who followed the general election run up might remember that Addison Lee cabs donated £4,000 worth of fares to the Tories.
Source: Private Eye, 1274, pp8.
Mind you they had some help. John Griffin, the chap who runs the London minicap firm Addison Lee was one of its biggest critics as his vehicles were banned from using it although ‘black cabs’ could, giving them, he felt, an advantage. Mind you, it didn’t stop its cabs using the lane as there were 200 outstanding fines against Addison Lee for using the bus lane as well as 130 outstanding court summonses.
They must be relieved therefore to hear that The CPS announced it was dropping all the fines and the summonses.
For those who don’t know Griffin Lee, his firm, Addision Lee, contributed £150,000 in cash to the Tories, entitling him to buy his way onto the Leaders’ Group of donors and so meet Tories on a regular basis at drinky poos, lunches and dinners. Oh, and those who followed the general election run up might remember that Addison Lee cabs donated £4,000 worth of fares to the Tories.
Source: Private Eye, 1274, pp8.
So Ian Hislop is now the fountain of all truth then?
Private Eye is well known for publishing stories of dubious accuracy with a humourous twist. Admittedly not having not read the entire article, their website gives this little taster:
private eye 1274 said:
COINCIDENCES – THEY’RE LIKE BUSES:
Boss of minicab firm opposes M4 bus lane. Boss of minicab firm gives Tories £150,000 in cash and £4,000 in free rides. M4 bus lane abolished.
There is something of a leap here between fact and coincidence. You might just as well say "Terry Wogan often criticised the M4 bus lane on his radio show. Now he's retired. Clearly he used his influence with all that extra spare time of his to get it abolished."Boss of minicab firm opposes M4 bus lane. Boss of minicab firm gives Tories £150,000 in cash and £4,000 in free rides. M4 bus lane abolished.
Sticking my neck out for a moment, I think you would be hard pressed to find many supporters of the M4 bus lane outside of the ranks of the car hating sandalistas. Getting rid of it is, to my mind, a bloody good idea, with one single caveat - it gets all traffic into 2 lanes at Heston in preparation for the 2 lane elevated section and, before the bus lane was introduced, there used to be one almightly snarl-up at peak hours at the start of the elevated section. We will return to this when it is abolished.
Somehow I think this has very little to do with a company giving a few bob to the Tory party, but perhaps I'm being naive.
how does it help his firm though?
presumably if they were willing to ignore the fines they got an easy ride on the bus lane
now their drivers will be stuck in massive traffic like the rest of the taxi companies.
having read the reason why the bus lane was set up, it makes sense in the context of the road layout, i think it was just human stupidity which means it doesnt quite work as it was meant to.
presumably if they were willing to ignore the fines they got an easy ride on the bus lane
now their drivers will be stuck in massive traffic like the rest of the taxi companies.
having read the reason why the bus lane was set up, it makes sense in the context of the road layout, i think it was just human stupidity which means it doesnt quite work as it was meant to.
rs1952 said:
So Ian Hislop is now the fountain of all truth then?
Private Eye is well known for publishing stories of dubious accuracy with a humourous twist. Admittedly not having not read the entire article, their website gives this little taster:
Sticking my neck out for a moment, I think you would be hard pressed to find many supporters of the M4 bus lane outside of the ranks of the car hating sandalistas. Getting rid of it is, to my mind, a bloody good idea, with one single caveat - it gets all traffic into 2 lanes at Heston in preparation for the 2 lane elevated section and, before the bus lane was introduced, there used to be one almightly snarl-up at peak hours at the start of the elevated section. We will return to this when it is abolished.
Somehow I think this has very little to do with a company giving a few bob to the Tory party, but perhaps I'm being naive.
I would guess that you are not a regular reader of Eye.Private Eye is well known for publishing stories of dubious accuracy with a humourous twist. Admittedly not having not read the entire article, their website gives this little taster:
private eye 1274 said:
COINCIDENCES – THEY’RE LIKE BUSES:
Boss of minicab firm opposes M4 bus lane. Boss of minicab firm gives Tories £150,000 in cash and £4,000 in free rides. M4 bus lane abolished.
There is something of a leap here between fact and coincidence. You might just as well say "Terry Wogan often criticised the M4 bus lane on his radio show. Now he's retired. Clearly he used his influence with all that extra spare time of his to get it abolished."Boss of minicab firm opposes M4 bus lane. Boss of minicab firm gives Tories £150,000 in cash and £4,000 in free rides. M4 bus lane abolished.
Sticking my neck out for a moment, I think you would be hard pressed to find many supporters of the M4 bus lane outside of the ranks of the car hating sandalistas. Getting rid of it is, to my mind, a bloody good idea, with one single caveat - it gets all traffic into 2 lanes at Heston in preparation for the 2 lane elevated section and, before the bus lane was introduced, there used to be one almightly snarl-up at peak hours at the start of the elevated section. We will return to this when it is abolished.
Somehow I think this has very little to do with a company giving a few bob to the Tory party, but perhaps I'm being naive.
Far from being a humorous rag it is, to a certain extent, the only investigative newspaper left on the stands nowadays.
The libel laws in this country are repressive. When unelected eady was a mover and shaker, 'interpreting' the laws in his own unique way, the threat of tremendous punishment meant that even if daily newspapers wanted to expose wrong doings they couldn't. Hislop is under threat of one more libel case and he'll be imprisoned.
When a bloke can dress up women that he's bought in German uniforms, use phrases like Aryans, have them wear prison uniforms all but identical to those used in the German concentrations camps and inspect for lice, and with any defence of 'I didn't know much about that sort of thing' being unavailable as he was a member and office holder of what was, to all intents and purposes, a ressurection of the pre-war British fascist party, then to be fined £60000 plus costs for calling it nazi is, many people feel it seems going by what was written on here and other forums, rather harsh.
So Hislop has to be extremely careful of what is written in Eye. But even so it exposes corrupt practice fortnight after fortnight and no one, it seems, does anything about it.
We have people quoting newspaper reports on here as if there is some suggestion they might be factual. Read Street of Shame. Lord Young's report on the 'compensation culture' is the lead this issue.
The Eye recently ran an exposure of the CDC. Your money, my money, everyone's money. It was tremendous. But it can't do that on a fortnightly basis. However, if you want to see graft, poor management and corruption in action, see their Rotten Boroughs page - sometimes two. How else would I have known that Mary Mears, the leader of 'my' council, has employed Wayne Beglan, big time, and no doubt big bills, Gray's Inn barrister to defend an appeal against a six month's suspension of a councillor who is defending himself.
There are light-hearted articles as well as cartoons. But even these have a political point.
"Who was left worst off by George Osborne’s spending review last week? It all depends which paper your read on Thursday morning . . .
"Axe falls on the poor." - Guardian
"Obs and Cam batter the poor" - Mirror
"Middle class will be hit hardest" - Mail
"Cuts leave middle class £10,000 worse off" - Telegraph"
The Eye is well worth its £1.50 per fortnight. It is well names in the sense that you feel you've been blind and can then suddenly can see after reading it.
It is politically biased of course, as everything is, but it is not party politics.
Given how closely it is read by those it exposes then you have to say that thee is probably more than a grain of truth inside the covers.
On the particular point of the M4 bus lane, the £150,000 gave the contributor the ear of those in power. That's why they pay the money.
But I have to doubt that all the money that Murdoch has put into the Tories has any connection with the recent massive cuts to the BBC. The fact that Jimmy M attacked the BBC in a well publicised - well it would be, wouldn't it - rant in 2009 is just one of those coincidences. In it he reckoned Ofcom should be curbed. Welcome to Fox news, and only Fox news everyone.
Michael Lyons resigned following the coalition took power and the BBC has had to sell off its magazines, including the Radio Times. How long before its website is shut down. After all, Murdoch has been criticising it for ages. You'd think he'd be pelased that there was an alternative outlet for news now that he charges for the Time online and few people pay for it.
Someone mentioned the word naive. If you think that money doesn't buy stuff then that's the word I would have used.
I thoroughly recommend the Eye. It repays reading every issue.
Derek Smith said:
rs1952 said:
So Ian Hislop is now the fountain of all truth then?
Private Eye is well known for publishing stories of dubious accuracy with a humourous twist. Admittedly not having not read the entire article, their website gives this little taster:
Sticking my neck out for a moment, I think you would be hard pressed to find many supporters of the M4 bus lane outside of the ranks of the car hating sandalistas. Getting rid of it is, to my mind, a bloody good idea, with one single caveat - it gets all traffic into 2 lanes at Heston in preparation for the 2 lane elevated section and, before the bus lane was introduced, there used to be one almightly snarl-up at peak hours at the start of the elevated section. We will return to this when it is abolished.
Somehow I think this has very little to do with a company giving a few bob to the Tory party, but perhaps I'm being naive.
I would guess that you are not a regular reader of Eye.Private Eye is well known for publishing stories of dubious accuracy with a humourous twist. Admittedly not having not read the entire article, their website gives this little taster:
private eye 1274 said:
COINCIDENCES – THEY’RE LIKE BUSES:
Boss of minicab firm opposes M4 bus lane. Boss of minicab firm gives Tories £150,000 in cash and £4,000 in free rides. M4 bus lane abolished.
There is something of a leap here between fact and coincidence. You might just as well say "Terry Wogan often criticised the M4 bus lane on his radio show. Now he's retired. Clearly he used his influence with all that extra spare time of his to get it abolished."Boss of minicab firm opposes M4 bus lane. Boss of minicab firm gives Tories £150,000 in cash and £4,000 in free rides. M4 bus lane abolished.
Sticking my neck out for a moment, I think you would be hard pressed to find many supporters of the M4 bus lane outside of the ranks of the car hating sandalistas. Getting rid of it is, to my mind, a bloody good idea, with one single caveat - it gets all traffic into 2 lanes at Heston in preparation for the 2 lane elevated section and, before the bus lane was introduced, there used to be one almightly snarl-up at peak hours at the start of the elevated section. We will return to this when it is abolished.
Somehow I think this has very little to do with a company giving a few bob to the Tory party, but perhaps I'm being naive.
Far from being a humorous rag it is, to a certain extent, the only investigative newspaper left on the stands nowadays.
The libel laws in this country are repressive. When unelected eady was a mover and shaker, 'interpreting' the laws in his own unique way, the threat of tremendous punishment meant that even if daily newspapers wanted to expose wrong doings they couldn't. Hislop is under threat of one more libel case and he'll be imprisoned.
When a bloke can dress up women that he's bought in German uniforms, use phrases like Aryans, have them wear prison uniforms all but identical to those used in the German concentrations camps and inspect for lice, and with any defence of 'I didn't know much about that sort of thing' being unavailable as he was a member and office holder of what was, to all intents and purposes, a ressurection of the pre-war British fascist party, then to be fined £60000 plus costs for calling it nazi is, many people feel it seems going by what was written on here and other forums, rather harsh.
So Hislop has to be extremely careful of what is written in Eye. But even so it exposes corrupt practice fortnight after fortnight and no one, it seems, does anything about it.
We have people quoting newspaper reports on here as if there is some suggestion they might be factual. Read Street of Shame. Lord Young's report on the 'compensation culture' is the lead this issue.
The Eye recently ran an exposure of the CDC. Your money, my money, everyone's money. It was tremendous. But it can't do that on a fortnightly basis. However, if you want to see graft, poor management and corruption in action, see their Rotten Boroughs page - sometimes two. How else would I have known that Mary Mears, the leader of 'my' council, has employed Wayne Beglan, big time, and no doubt big bills, Gray's Inn barrister to defend an appeal against a six month's suspension of a councillor who is defending himself.
There are light-hearted articles as well as cartoons. But even these have a political point.
"Who was left worst off by George Osborne’s spending review last week? It all depends which paper your read on Thursday morning . . .
"Axe falls on the poor." - Guardian
"Obs and Cam batter the poor" - Mirror
"Middle class will be hit hardest" - Mail
"Cuts leave middle class £10,000 worse off" - Telegraph"
The Eye is well worth its £1.50 per fortnight. It is well names in the sense that you feel you've been blind and can then suddenly can see after reading it.
It is politically biased of course, as everything is, but it is not party politics.
Given how closely it is read by those it exposes then you have to say that thee is probably more than a grain of truth inside the covers.
On the particular point of the M4 bus lane, the £150,000 gave the contributor the ear of those in power. That's why they pay the money.
But I have to doubt that all the money that Murdoch has put into the Tories has any connection with the recent massive cuts to the BBC. The fact that Jimmy M attacked the BBC in a well publicised - well it would be, wouldn't it - rant in 2009 is just one of those coincidences. In it he reckoned Ofcom should be curbed. Welcome to Fox news, and only Fox news everyone.
Michael Lyons resigned following the coalition took power and the BBC has had to sell off its magazines, including the Radio Times. How long before its website is shut down. After all, Murdoch has been criticising it for ages. You'd think he'd be pelased that there was an alternative outlet for news now that he charges for the Time online and few people pay for it.
Someone mentioned the word naive. If you think that money doesn't buy stuff then that's the word I would have used.
I thoroughly recommend the Eye. It repays reading every issue.
Derek (I'm not going to quote that lot, so I'll just use your name 
)
OK, you have put up a spirited defence of Private Eye (which incidentally I nearly fully agree with, but I haven't quite got the problem with Moseley and his fetish parties that you have but we'll leave that to one side), but that wasn't the point of your original post. That, as I understand it was:
"Taxi firm doesn't like bus lane, taxi firm pays a few bob to the Tories, M4 bus lane abolished."
Implied sub text:
"Therefore, the corrupt barstewards in government have pulled a few strings and done their benefactor a favour"
Well yes, they might have done their benefactor a favour but, in so doing, they have done a lot of other people a favour too and got shot of one of the more disliked traffic management schemes in West London.
Perhaps we ought to come at this matter from the other end. Had the company not dished out some money to the Tories, would the bus lane have remained in place?
We have heard recently from the government about "ending the war on the motorist." Makes a good sound bite and I, for one, will wait to see what happens in the long term. In the short term, however, we have seen a number of SCPs fold and many more cut back their operations. Presumably, by Private Eye's line of reckoning, this was in response to some other bugger or series of buggers dipping into their pockets to strengthen Tory party funds. Perhaps we'll hear in the next issue who these people were.
Or perhaps we wont. Perhaps they don't exist. Or perhaps Private Eye might discover a group of millionaires all with nine points on their licences who have also given money to the Tories. If they did find these people, it would be obvious, wouldn't it (next issue headline follows):
"Speeding millionaires give money to the Tories and SCPs abolished"
Somebody is running the risk of adding 2 and 2 and making 5, methinks.
)OK, you have put up a spirited defence of Private Eye (which incidentally I nearly fully agree with, but I haven't quite got the problem with Moseley and his fetish parties that you have but we'll leave that to one side), but that wasn't the point of your original post. That, as I understand it was:
"Taxi firm doesn't like bus lane, taxi firm pays a few bob to the Tories, M4 bus lane abolished."
Implied sub text:
"Therefore, the corrupt barstewards in government have pulled a few strings and done their benefactor a favour"
Well yes, they might have done their benefactor a favour but, in so doing, they have done a lot of other people a favour too and got shot of one of the more disliked traffic management schemes in West London.
Perhaps we ought to come at this matter from the other end. Had the company not dished out some money to the Tories, would the bus lane have remained in place?
We have heard recently from the government about "ending the war on the motorist." Makes a good sound bite and I, for one, will wait to see what happens in the long term. In the short term, however, we have seen a number of SCPs fold and many more cut back their operations. Presumably, by Private Eye's line of reckoning, this was in response to some other bugger or series of buggers dipping into their pockets to strengthen Tory party funds. Perhaps we'll hear in the next issue who these people were.
Or perhaps we wont. Perhaps they don't exist. Or perhaps Private Eye might discover a group of millionaires all with nine points on their licences who have also given money to the Tories. If they did find these people, it would be obvious, wouldn't it (next issue headline follows):
"Speeding millionaires give money to the Tories and SCPs abolished"
Somebody is running the risk of adding 2 and 2 and making 5, methinks.
Edited by rs1952 on Sunday 31st October 09:06
You need to remember that Private Eye very often gets it wrong, often because they'll automatically take the side of the individual against a corporation, or because they'll assume that anyone who benefits must have been behind an action happening (as in the example above, despite the fact that Addison Lee actually benefitted from the bus lane).
For an example of the former, look at their stance on MMR and Autism. Hislop likely has a body count associated with taking the same side as the Mail, and against the vaccine producers on this one, as well as going against the science, yet has never properly apologised.
I read the Eye regularly, but would never assume that they are above having an agenda, using sloppy journalism, or just getting things wrong.
I'm one of those who will miss the lane, as I always am either driven to Heathrow, or take the motorbike.
For an example of the former, look at their stance on MMR and Autism. Hislop likely has a body count associated with taking the same side as the Mail, and against the vaccine producers on this one, as well as going against the science, yet has never properly apologised.
I read the Eye regularly, but would never assume that they are above having an agenda, using sloppy journalism, or just getting things wrong.
I'm one of those who will miss the lane, as I always am either driven to Heathrow, or take the motorbike.
Edited by NorthernBoy on Sunday 31st October 09:21
RS1952 and Northern Boy:
I agree that the Eye, like all papers, should be read with a degree of scepticism. I also agree with the point about their stance on MMR. In fact I stopped buying Eye for a while because of it. Body count in quite correct. It used to really wind me up. I actually swore in the café of Sainsburys when waiting with a friend for our wives to finish shopping. I had to apologise to those on the table next to us.
His anti-EU stance almost puts me in favour of it.
Firstly, I never suggested that: "Therefore, the corrupt barstewards in government have pulled a few strings and done their benefactor a favour"
I think the way it works is more subtle than that.
£154,000 in money and services has been paid into the Tory account. That’s a lot of money. One wonders what the donor expected by way of return.
What it got him was regular meetings with those in the hierarchy of the Tory party, the ones who decide on policy and make the law. I have no idea what is said at these meetings but what it means is that he has the ear of those in power. NB liked the bus lane as did cabbies. One wonders what might have happened if each cabbie and NB have paid the Tories £154,000 and gave the leaders a right old ear’oling.
A couple of weeks ago I sent off an email to ‘my’ MP, Brighton Kemptown, in which I quoted what was said by the Tory leader during the three days before the election and what has transpired since. It was mischievous of course, I expected no change, nor result, no acceptance of misleading. Not that he did mislead of course as no one, surely, believes what an MP says during an election.
I must admit though to expecting some justification for the volte face. In fact I got a reply that treated me with little more than contempt. One wonders what the result would have been if I had paid £154,000 into their coffers. I know what I would have expected.
As for Mosley, I have absolutely no problem with fetish parties. We all have tastes. But it wasn’t Rita, Sue and Bob too back from the pub for a bit of fun while they are a bit tipsy: this was buying prostitutes to beat. That’s personal to me. We all have our own morals and judge other by them.
But what also irritates is that it was taken to court and the decision further limited the freedom of the press. Many people felt that it was fascist and nazi inspired. The French did it so much better – believe it or not – when his predecessor took a newspaper to court for libel after accusing him of being a collaborator during the war. That too was on the flimsiest of evidence. They too had nazi uniforms, this time SS, and being worn by Balestra standing when around with Germans in the same garb. The court found no way of disproving his defence that this was part of the career structure of those in the Resistance (I’ve paraphrased that to a certain extent) so found in his favour but awarded him 1 Franc damages. It seems that all those in the Resistance whom B had associated with had died during the war. One wonders why.
Perhaps there was no connection with the M4 bus lane and the £154,000 despite the donor’s dislike for it. We must make our own minds up, even if all it means is that we bear it in mind. What is true though is that the Eye is the only paper to bring up the coincidence.
I agree that the Eye, like all papers, should be read with a degree of scepticism. I also agree with the point about their stance on MMR. In fact I stopped buying Eye for a while because of it. Body count in quite correct. It used to really wind me up. I actually swore in the café of Sainsburys when waiting with a friend for our wives to finish shopping. I had to apologise to those on the table next to us.
His anti-EU stance almost puts me in favour of it.
Firstly, I never suggested that: "Therefore, the corrupt barstewards in government have pulled a few strings and done their benefactor a favour"
I think the way it works is more subtle than that.
£154,000 in money and services has been paid into the Tory account. That’s a lot of money. One wonders what the donor expected by way of return.
What it got him was regular meetings with those in the hierarchy of the Tory party, the ones who decide on policy and make the law. I have no idea what is said at these meetings but what it means is that he has the ear of those in power. NB liked the bus lane as did cabbies. One wonders what might have happened if each cabbie and NB have paid the Tories £154,000 and gave the leaders a right old ear’oling.
A couple of weeks ago I sent off an email to ‘my’ MP, Brighton Kemptown, in which I quoted what was said by the Tory leader during the three days before the election and what has transpired since. It was mischievous of course, I expected no change, nor result, no acceptance of misleading. Not that he did mislead of course as no one, surely, believes what an MP says during an election.
I must admit though to expecting some justification for the volte face. In fact I got a reply that treated me with little more than contempt. One wonders what the result would have been if I had paid £154,000 into their coffers. I know what I would have expected.
As for Mosley, I have absolutely no problem with fetish parties. We all have tastes. But it wasn’t Rita, Sue and Bob too back from the pub for a bit of fun while they are a bit tipsy: this was buying prostitutes to beat. That’s personal to me. We all have our own morals and judge other by them.
But what also irritates is that it was taken to court and the decision further limited the freedom of the press. Many people felt that it was fascist and nazi inspired. The French did it so much better – believe it or not – when his predecessor took a newspaper to court for libel after accusing him of being a collaborator during the war. That too was on the flimsiest of evidence. They too had nazi uniforms, this time SS, and being worn by Balestra standing when around with Germans in the same garb. The court found no way of disproving his defence that this was part of the career structure of those in the Resistance (I’ve paraphrased that to a certain extent) so found in his favour but awarded him 1 Franc damages. It seems that all those in the Resistance whom B had associated with had died during the war. One wonders why.
Perhaps there was no connection with the M4 bus lane and the £154,000 despite the donor’s dislike for it. We must make our own minds up, even if all it means is that we bear it in mind. What is true though is that the Eye is the only paper to bring up the coincidence.
NorthernBoy said:
plg said:
The Eye is excellent and holds all parties to account
So tell me then, do you applaud them for the extra brain-damaged children that they caused through their lies on MMR, or was that just a minor slip in an otherwise unblemished record?Surely no one looks to the Eye for lifestyle hints?
Bad Science is well worth reading to show just how poor journalism across all forms of media has injured our kids. I had one of my staff crying at her 'going away' party because she didn't know what to do for the best.
There are quite a number who should be put up against the wall and shot before we get to Hislop. But I accept he deserves to be there.
Have any apologised? More to the point, have any changed?
I don't know why everyone always complains about the m4 bus lane, this page explains why it is actually good:
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
citizen_smith said:
I don't know why everyone always complains about the m4 bus lane, this page explains why it is actually good:
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
Which explains exactly what I said in my first post on this thread.http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
citizen_smith said:
I don't know why everyone always complains about the m4 bus lane, this page explains why it is actually good:
http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
Don't see it despite having read that... All it does is move the jam down the road and inconvenience people leaving at j3 who wouldn't have been effected otherwise. The fact is, the motorway loses a lane, so if there's 3 lanes full, you'll get a jam when it becomes two. The bus lane can't change that fact.http://www.cbrd.co.uk/indepth/m4buslane/
All the bus lane does is allow cabbies and cabinet ministers to skip the jam.
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