Since no-one else is going to post it, I'll have to do it myself :-)
The following, much edited by the paper, appeared in the
Thursday edition of the Bristol Evening Post. For those of
you who haven't read Hansard, Jean Corston MP, was thanked
by fat Eric (Martlew) for all her work behind the scenes.
"I was astonished to find that a local MP, Jean Corston, had
provided support for Eric Martlew's misguided child cycle
helmet Bill. Mr Martlew could at least plead ignorance, he
didn't even know that his own Government had set a body to
promote cycling, but Mrs Corston has no such excuse.
Mrs Corston tried five years ago to bring in just such a
law, but was forced to drastically amend her proposals when
it was pointed out that the organisation promoting the Bill,
the Bicycle Helmet Initiative Trust, did not tell the truth.
Mr Martlew's Bill was promoted by the same organisation,
using the same mix of exaggeration, untruths and appeals
to emotion, and it is shocking that Mrs Corston fell for
them again.
During the debate, Mr Martlew suggested that the CTC, the
national cycling organisation, should change its leadership,
presumably because they were so easily able to refute his
arguments with the facts.
If I was a constituent of Mrs Corston, I would be asking
myself whether I wanted to change a leader who is gullible
enough to fall for the same nonsense twice.
We all make mistakes, and to be taken in by the very
persuasive conmen of BHIT is no disgrace, but to be taken in
twice must cast doubt on Mrs Corston's abilities.
Perhaps the Po s t could ask Mrs Corston two questions: why
has no helmet law anywhere shown any reduction in risk to
cyclists, and why, when a law identical to that proposed by
Mr Martlew was passed in Alberta, deaths and injuries to
child cyclists doubled?
I look forward to reading her response.
Richard Burton, Little Stoke, Bristol.
--
cheers
Rich