I read a George Monbiot article in the Guardian the other day – We are being poisoned every day, so why do we keep voting for more pollution? Ask a lobbyist – which said at the end if you have an opinion about the article, write a letter to the Guardian. So I did. It probably won’t be published.

Hi

That the notion of the car as a symbol of freedom is still being pushed in adverts today is quite extraordinary, given that the reality is traffic jams, insurance, petrol prices, road rage, accidents, deaths (1,500 humans a year, many more animals), environmental cost and according to statistics, spending four days a year finding a parking space. Sounds more like a chain to me. There is far more freedom and humanity to be found on the humble bus, where chatting, napping and reading are all embraced. It might not be sexy — there will probably never be an advert of a Tom Cruise-type character driving a bus through an alpine pass or desert as you would see in a car ad — but one full bus equals almost a kilometre of car traffic.  

Of all the hundreds of things the British people could protest about under the Tories — from corruption and the economy to the barbaric treatment of immigrants and the cost of living — it is only when it affects their precious cars that Brits act, most recently by vandalising ULEZ cameras and Welsh 20mph speed limit signs. Bizarrely, things that will actually benefit the health of the average person. Sadly, many MPs have expressed ‘happiness’ and ‘backing’ for this criminal damage. 

I find I have more sympathy with climate protesters or even the misguided thieves who raided shops on Oxford Street last month, of which Suella Breaverman said “Those responsible must be hunted down and locked up” as if they were animals. But that’s the British government and the law for you – more concerned with property, business and industry than people or the environment.

Kind regards etc.

Previously on Barnflakes
St. Barnabus, patron saint of the buses
Cars vs buses
Bus pass