Phillippa and Philip have overlooked key factors and from that I assume she is either super fit expert cyclist, or does not do a job that involves equipment or necessitates travel.Key Fact: It's quite hilly here. Something that unless you Cycle is barely noticeable in a motorised vehicle. That also impairs the range of electric vehicles making them unviable for many locations as a daily workhorse and why Vans are only being deployed in less undulating areas. It's very hilly over most of north west London and South London and only really flat along the East - West course of the river.Second is our weather. Wholly unpredictable. We have had extraordinarily good weather this whole lockdown period. But it could be the opposite next spring/summer. But it has also been quite windier than usual as well.The period before the lockdown was wet and windy for months.Yesterday was a good example of it being almost impossible to cycle safely or easily anywhere against the strong gusting wind. Only the strongest and fittest cyclists on the lightest of machines could probably manage to endure that.For the rest, it's impractical and dangerous. Only a very small percentage of people will ever be able to endure that and turn up fit for work or duty without shower and changing facilities. That's only feasible if you work in a nice office. And plenty will tell you about those who don't shower or wash properly as often as they stop at traffic lights. Oblivious to the reek they omit in the office. We have a few like that. But the office showers are far from nice.It's great to cycle around, I still do a lot, always have, but the hard fact is I could not make any sort of living without the ability to go anywhere, anytime, any distance and with work equipment.That's been the norm in a commercial world which is why it's so overpopulated here. It's the core of it's economy, why we have so many kids why people come here. The economy demands it.Strangle it and then what?Working from home is limited and desktop based businesses are limited as they are ultimately dependent on someone somewhere physically doing something.Or we have a nation full of paperless beaurocrats and number crunchers and no producers of goods. Which leaves the economy extremely weak and wholly vulnerable to external forces.The reliance of apps and desktop technology has shown how pointless so much of it is. Just look at the mess caused by Algorithms for exams, collations of stats for Covid deaths, number based collation of stats for transport and the list goes on.No-one gets out there and does things based on reality and the end result is a shambles of client tailored results.The bigger picture is not all rose tinted bird singing utopia. I wish it was, but the reality is harsher than the idealism which with 60million plus in a small country cannot work without some serious change which is not coming from anyone running this country on a realistic and forward thinking way.Unfortunately it is far from that with current thinking based on supposition and double standards.
Raymond Havelock ● 1816d