“What Bristol needs”, eh? How many times have we heard that in recent times, often from people who not only don’t come from Bristol, they really don’t know what Bristol needs. Today, I read a twitter ‘debate’ led by one of Bristol’s ‘Green’ councillors, who explained how he didn’t need a car, that when his children needed to go to nursery either he or his partner would walk them there and that to all intents and purposes everyone could do everything they always wanted to do by bus, train, bicycle, tram, underground and by walking. And before you laugh dismissively at what they are about, you shouldn’t. The Greens are very close to power in this city. Should we welcome that simple fact?
It seems to me this is fast becoming a class issue with the affluent, middle class inhabitants of Bristol’s leafier areas dismissing the needs – and they are needs – of working class people in the less affluent, working class areas. The councillor explained how he didn’t need a car. He could get anywhere he wanted to without a car so why couldn’t everyone else?
“I don’t need a car,” sniffs the Green Man. Okay. You want to visit close members of your family who live in, let’s say, Stratford Upon Avon. Hmm. Let’s let the train take the strain. Or rather my wallet. Over £120 for the pair of us, with one stop on the way up and two on the way back. Drive? £20, maybe a bit more, in petrol. Tough choice.
In Bristol, the Metrobus covers a few areas but most of the city is covered by rattlers which take forever to get anywhere and if unless your destination is in town, you will need to change at least once more.
And the man wants to take his child on foot to nursery. The only one we could afford was nearly six miles away and nowhere near a single bus route. Then, we both worked in the other sides of town. Try to that on public transport and still have time to work.
But you can always cycle. Look. If these Greens had their way, police officers, paramedics and fire fighters would be scampering around on pushbikes, chasing boy racers, visiting the dead and reaching burned out embers. Cycling works well in some parts of Bristol, usually for the affluent hipsters, but for the proles, well it’s not an option. And it’s dangerous.
Look: we need to deal with climate change. But we can’t stop living our lives. The motorcar might not be an essential for the right on brigade but for those who need to put bread on the table, there’s no choice.
Mayor Marvin Rees has achieved very little in a job which many of us regard as a waste of time and resources, but the Greens, who are knocking on the electoral door, would be far, far worse. Green twitter councillor hates cars and hates the people who drive them. That’s you and me. They want to keep the lower orders in their place. It used to be the Tories who did that. Now they have competition.
