All Quiet On The Westminster front?* Maybe not for long as Rage Against the Machine shows how the powers of smug directors to control 'pubic opinion' can be challenged by meek and lowly individuals...

As supporters of the Rage Against the Machine campaign have just shown, even the most powerful and smug controllers of what the public have to accept here in Britain, can be humbled by effective protests that are coordinated via the internet.
Getting those who have great influence to make better distinctions between having the power to manipulate, 'control' or simply ignore public opinion – and whether they are right to use it for their own ends – is always a battle. But it sure feels good to see one of those battles won for a change in the music world.

And, albeit on a smaller scale, I think this has an intriguing relevance to the ongoing saga of Westminster City Council's (WCC) attempts to pioneer new high-tech systems to tax riders of motorbikes and scooters – by making them pay to park on the public roads that they have already paid many times over to use. I have just learned that Cllr Danny Chalkley has now got the latest and final version of his 'Officer's Report'  in to consider.

This reviews events so far, as far as the council officers see them, and recommends whether WCC should make their 'experimental' rider's tax permanent. Danny had asked for a re-write of the previous version of report which recommended going ahead with the new tax. That followed various private meetings and comments from NTBPT, MAG, BMF, and yours truly. This demand for a re-write prompted a glimmer of hope for some of us that sense would at last prevail and the power of arguments that a new UK rider's tax would do far more harm than good, would finally be recognised. But no...

I have now read the report and can tell you that all it's author did was add a few spurious responses to key criticisms and the recommendation to go-ahead with this potential new stealth-tax stands. Critically though, and I have already told Danny this, some of these responses will create a new focus for problems if, as I suspect they will, WCC decide to plough on with trying to get away with keeping this new revenue stream flowing. I gather though that DC's decision will now be made early in the new year, so more on that when it happens. In the meantime, I will carry on with my reflections on recent doings.

From what I have seen so far, on the inside and the outside, it strikes me that there are strong parallels between the way that Simon Cowell of X Factor fame carries on – and the contemptuous attitudes to public opinion that are exhibited by some in Westminster who are involved with pushing this regressive tax on users of Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) – which are IMHO a vital, green and highly efficient mode of transport – especially in our congested towns and cities. However, it is worth noting that although Cowell has a bit of egg on his face, he is doubtless a great deal richer nevertheless – and smart enough to continue raking in loads more cash. And frankly, if folks want to keep spending their hard-earned on keeping Simon in the luxurious lifestyle to which he is accustomed, so be it. I am not a fan of telling anyone what to do with their cash.

What I'm still pondering though is how far the parallels may run. Will the sometimes smug controllers inside Westminster City Hall get away with no egg on face? There could well be a lot of egg to come from various sources. These include the ongoing and escalating campaign of protests organised by NTBPT and splinter groups like the RATS – and the outcomes from various legal challenges that are already being investigated and one that is waiting in the wings if the scheme goes permanent.
Perhaps most important question of all though is whether Westminster's controllers are smart enough to cut and run if that is actually the best thing to do for all concerned, or to try and dig themselves into the trenches while they keep raking in the cash no matter how much egg gets thrown.

Far be it for me to predict or proscribe what will happen next, but I just found a little something that may show how smart or inappropriately smug the bike park tax pioneers are. While on a hunt for something else on the web, I found some extraordinary admissions by our hero/villain of the hour, Alistair Gilchrist. Now I doubt that any of these will surprise those who read my musings - but the fact that they are just sitting there may at the very least raise a wry smile. Anyway, according to Alistair, Westminster City Council were the bad boys on the UK's billion pound parking enforcement industry block back in 2003. He made this admission as the senior officer responsible for parking services in a recent conference and his Power Point Presentation can be seen in all its glory here.

Alistair was clearly so confident at the time about the council's plans to expand the scope of parking tax schemes that he showed examples of public anger at the council's abuse of its power in the 'bad old days' – and this note (left) of what some of the public really think about promises that all will be fine in the future. The question now is, was he right to be so confident then or now?

It seems to me that despite great efforts to rid themselves of that 'bad boy' parking cash-cow squeezing image, the reputation of those in charge of parking controls in the heart of London could be about to plunge to even greater depths. If it soldiers on with this new tax scheme, the council will have to face more battles and on several fronts. The audit commission has begun investigating the way that contracts were awarded to Verrus, and the EU Commissioners are about to start their own investigation into other complaints about the way hat this was handled.

So, all of us who are concerned with or about the prospect of new taxes for PTW riders are left with a few questions to consider. Will Westminster City Council now decide that it's 'experiment' to impose a new tax on motorbikes and scooter riders is not really the best way to go – and especially in very tough times for most of us? Or, will they continue to try and get away with making it a permanent and growing part of UK life for riders, and a new source of revenue stream for a council near you? Or, lastly for now, will rage against this new tax machine prototype become the ultimately decisive factor?

* This headline has a root in the title of a film & book called All Quite On The Western Front. This is in part about gaps in understanding of reality between front line fighters & those in power who create situations in which hard battles sometimes need to be fought and won. There are many plot reviews out there but this summary has fewer ads for dentistry and explains the title in the end.

Hope y'all had a Happy Christmas for those who believe in that sort of thing, and have a Cool Yule & New Year for those with faith in other reasons to be cheerful!

Slipping one in during the festive season of goodwill? ...Heroes or villains?

It is not my style to 'name & shame' but I feel compelled to say that the time draws nigh when two would-be pioneers of a new motorbike & scooter parking tax in Britain will be seen as heroes or villains, and by whom...

You may well wonder who this fellow on the right is and what he might have to offer us in our ongoing quest for reasons to be cheerful – and especially now the season of goodwill to all etc. is upon us, while the future of life on earth hangs in the balance for some. Well, all as I see it about this bloke will be revealed shortly. And, depending on what his boss, Cllr Danny Chalkley (DC) on the left decides, life will eventually either get better or worse for us all in UK towns and cities and especially so for riders of motorbikes or scooters. Amongst other things, the bloke on the right is a very senior officer at Westminster City Council who was asked to re-write his second officer's report recommending that the council makes its 'experimental' M/C parking charges scheme permanent. For an alternative view of this scheme go to No To Bike Parking Tax

The re-write is finally done and submitted to DC so he, as cabinet member for transport at WCC can decide whether to go ahead with the new UK biking tax or scrap it. DC emailed me this week to say that he will "make that decision within the next week". But please bear with me and join in on a Yuletide ramble to get to the bottom of who is really doing what and why, and whether these two characters will be heroes or villains and will their next move be for the greater good, or all about the money...

All sorts of stuff, and a fair amount of nonsense goes on in the festive season. It is of course also the time when we are all supposed to be especially jolly and nice to each other etc. There are however a number of Bah Humbuggers who say that's all tosh.

The most fervent humbuggers are deeply sceptical about the merits of mass immersion into temporary enthusiasm for extra jollity. Just SAY NO they shout to falsely bearded Santas and smiling, some even say no to drinking yerself sillier than usual. A few humbuggers go as far as seeing a dark side. It's not about the peace-and-love-man spirit of Christmas they say grimly. It's all about the money honey, and warn that there are sharks out there who just want to screw you for as much as they can and in whatever ways they can get away with. Darker still, while everybody and their mate and their dog are wobbling around with feelings of goodwill to all and sundry, or just legless, it can be a jolly good time for ne'er do wells to do their dastardly worst. This even includes cunning or desperate government bods who need to try and slip a bit of bad news into the world while our ears and eyes are elsewhere.

Now, this is where our chap on the right may or may not come in. He is Alistair Gilchrist, Director of Parking at Westminster City Council & M.D. of Westco Trading Ltd. And, IMHO, dear Alistair is the real driving force behind what I regard as a nasty new high-tech tax on motorbike parking – first in London – and in a town near you next. But as I know from past experience, when it comes to motorbike parking charge schemes, Alistair has a bit of history for trying to slip things in, or occasionally letting things slip out, while he hopes that no-one important is paying much attention.

I vividly remember the first time AG tried to introduce a scheme to make riders pay to park their congestion busting motorbikes and scooters in the centre of London on Westminster's patch. He and WCC ignored objections but soon found out that coin operated parking meters issuing pay and display tickets wouldn’t work and nor did the other variants he tried. So, poor Alistair and his wannabe bike parking charging chums ended up with big egg on face – but that was just the first time around.

Now, pay-by-mobile-phone technology has come to his rescue. And, as he let slip at the last meeting of the Cross Party Parliamentary Motorcycling Group. "We've always wanted to get bikes to pay for parking but didn't have the technology till now". In parallel to this, Danny Chalkley has convinced me that he really doesn't want the new bike parking fees to deter riders from using bikes in Westminster, although the only official reason left standing for the scheme is good old 'demand management' which is all about deterring folk from using particular modes. But, like Alistair, Danny is a director of Westco, and indeed its Chairman, and Westco just happens to be in the business of supplying parking 'services'.

But why would anybody want to set up a business within a council? Well, the answer is the same as it is for any business, it is to make money. And as we all know money makes the world go round and charging to park on public roads is a great way to make loads of money if you have the local authority powers to do so. So, the big question now for Alistair and Danny during the season to be merry is this. Are you going to be heroes and bin this attempt to screw more money out of riders who are doing there bit to cut congestion and save the planet by reducing pollution? Or, are you going to stick with the plan to get a bit more cash, put people off riding bikes and scooters and consolidate you appearance to many as the Scrooges or villains of the peace? I sincerely hope you will be heroes...

Will the UK's next batch of MPs make better use of the benefits that motorcycle and scooter use has to offer in British cities where most of us live – like cutting congestion and related pollution, reducing overcrowding on public transport for commuter rammed commuters – and reducing journey times between home and work?

I always enjoy my annual pilgrimage to the NEC bike show in Brum and this year was no exception. And, for what it's worth, my star of the show was the Norton Commando 961 SE – in classic black with gold pinstriping. And, yes I am old enough to remember the original version. And yes, I know that the new one costs a shed-load of money and that some folk get their knickers in a twist about it. But I really don't give a jolly old monkey's. For me, it is simply a stunning piece of British engineering and I firmly believe that the world is a better place for having such a thing in it – even if it's just to gawp at in awe!

Anyway, back to the show. From the moment I check into the press office, the world around me changes. Normally, as a biker/PTW rider, I am part of a small minority. This is generally true whether I'm on the road or in the fields of work where our rule-makers' views of motorcycling issues are formed. And, more often than not, the way ahead for us looks like an obstacle course strewn with all sorts of people and stuff that can block our progress. But for a magical few days, the vast majority of people around me are, in some way or other, slightly mad about bikes in positive ways. This always boosts my enthusiasm for being a small cog in a machine that is generally headed in the direction I'd like to see us go.

But I came away with a more diverse range of powerful feelings than usual. First, my usual back-to-back succession of chats about what is or should be going on gave me some extra causes for concern, particularly about the BMF's current financial situation. So I wish Martin C of Mulberry (who is running next years' shows) all the luck he deserves to get the old org back on the right financial track. But I also got various boosts of fresh hope for the future of motorcycling in Britain.

After years of hoping to experience it, I found myself in the midst of a bikers group threesome! Fortunately for me, this happening is not quite the stuff of scandals or tabloid headlines. Nevertheless, there has been a crucial development in the weird and sometimes wonderful motorcycling lobby world – where some of us are trying to work out what needs doing in the run-up to the next general election. In essence, what’s happening is that MAG, the BMF and the MCIA are joining forces – and have launched a new campaign to stress that Riders Are Voters (RAV) and that it matters. The key point though is that this fact matters not just to riders – but to all prospective candidates who want to play a part in the next term of UK government. There are, after all, well over a million of us!

However, in my experience, any mention of lobbying stuff tends to send many bikers to sleep – and raises a few critical questions from those who stay awake. And the biggest of these is questions is this. What are the chances of anyone who matters taking any notice of what we think will be better for motorcycling? Then, to add a salutary reality check before answering, it's best to note that many UK riders think that our volunteer force of campaigners and lobbyists are more like a ramshackle dad's army, than an effective force to resist more constraints and to fight for better ways of addressing motorcycling related issues.

But in my view the RAV concept does more than provide a name for one campaign. It is drawing the three key motorcycling groups together in the most effective way I have ever seen. It is also building good new routes for developing strategies and action to promote our interests – way beyond the next general election.

To be clear though, I have no illusions that the forthcoming election is likely to revolutionise the way motorcycling issues are addressed here in the UK. But it seems fair to expect some significant changes in the balance of power in central and local government – and in the way that power might be directed. There is one thing I am sure about though. Whoever gets into power, they will find a better coordinated group of people to talk to about the many good things that motorcycling offers, and better ways to tackle problems. And, if our new governors try to impose more constraints, or ignore our legitimate demands for improvements, we are less likely to be saying where's dad's army? than Vive la Resistance!

R.A.T.S Block Westminster Council front doors bike protest

Just had link to a vid of RATS protest outside Westminster City Hall.

No time to say more for mo...

...Well except perhaps that some might find that the choice of pop combo used to play the melodic backing music is rather apt.

Turns out they are an outfit called RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE

Crikey!

RATS bikers protest group blockade Westminster City Hall with motorbikes ... while the EU Commission opens an investigation into pay-by-mobile phone M/C parking fees & fines scheme.

Earlier this morning a riders group who are new to me made something of an impact in downtown Victoria in the heart of the Westminster area of central London. The RATS (Riders Against Tory Stealth-taxes) managed to delay a meeting of the Partnership in Parking PIP consortium at Westminster City Hall by chaining a number of bikes together in protest. This lot are, incidentally, an entirely separate bunch from the No to Bike Parking Tax NTBPT group.

Anyway, I gather that these rascals are a splinter group of activist opponents to the controversial attempt by Westminster City Council to pioneer a new pay-by-mobile-phone parking fees and fines scheme – and to sell the system to any other local authority who wants to extract a few more quid from bikers if they can. And this may be a tempting prospect when you notice that the Westminster trial scheme has already extracted more than £2m from riders pockets More pics here

Later today, another demonstration is scheduled to take place but this one is organised by the official NTBPT group so it will be interesting to see what happens then. It will also be interesting to see whether the mainstream news media take the opportunity to report what is really happening these days on the streets of London or stick to their more conventionally oriented coverage of output from never ending streams of PR and well spun versions of what our governers would like us to get as 'news'.

But back to this morning's events, an eyewitness tells me that the police arrived on the scene and engaged in a highly professional investigation and amicable spot of negotiations. All of which resulted in a conclusion that no criminal activity or damage had occurred, a bunch of disaffected bikers had exercised their rights to take to the streets in protest, and the meeting then went ahead albeit two hours later than planned.

I also gather that meeting was rather uneventful, or as one member of the public gallery put it boring as f**k – until the end. Some council members of the London-wide consortium had no idea that opposition to bike parking charges was so vigorous and voiced major concerns about the very idea of charging riders of congestion busting motorcycles to park – let alone having their consortium take the lead on spreading it nationwide.

...Meanwhile, I learned late on Friday that the EU Commission will investigate whether regulations have been flouted or laws broken during the set-up phase of the bike parking tax scheme being pioneered in Westminster...

EU Commissioners have served notice on the UK government's representative in Brussels that they are opening a formal investigation into an official complaint that EU regulations were flouted in setting up the controversial bike parking fees scheme being trailed in Westminster. The complaints were lodged in 2008, and made regarding some of the behind-the-scene activities by the Partnership in Parking (PIP) consortium that was originally set up with tax payers money. It is alleged, by the complainant and opponents of the scheme, that the way that PIP went about setting up the pay-by-mobile-phone scheme involved several violations of EU law on procurement.

The case for investigation, No.SG-CDC-2008A-7695, was formally opened on 20th November and the UK government has eight weeks to reply to notification of the investigation.

The key allegations are that PIP coordinators set up the scheme in a way that could not only be rolled out throughout the UK by any authorities who wanted to introduce a new pay-by-mobile-phone bike parking charging and enforcement regime – but that PIP encouraged councils to deploy the new fees and fines system without a tender process by merely joining the PIP consortium.

The complainant cannot be named because it has asked the EU Commission to protect their identity during the course of the investigation. However, I have now seen a copy of the submission of complaints and can say that in my view it is very understandable why the Commission are taking the complaints sufficiently seriously to open a formal investigation...

Climategate latest. Consensus of scientists or 'a lot of hot air underpinned by fraud'?

As you can see in this harrowing picture, this poor polar bear is balancing on just two paws because all the ice around him has been melted by global warming – which as we are frequently told is caused by us who ride motorbikes and even more evil people who go by plane. Oh deary me. Or maybe there is another explanation for what is really going on....

...Could it even be that Governments are using Climate Change as a 'Con to raise taxes' ?

I have just seen two articles today which extend the ongoing debate which is increasingly being called Climategate – and despite the odd way Google is reacting to searches for it. The first introduces the word FRAUD to the mix of criticisms levelled at the bods in our very own CRU with the significance of climategate outlined today – and who at the very least have been 'selective' when deciding what they will and won't reveal from the science they are paid to investigate and report on by various governments including ours in the UK.

The other reveals another development in this increasingly heated debate that may well prove to be of equal or even greater significance. It turns out that a Backlash is building a head of steam against blind faith in man-made global warming among key Tories in the UK.

Now, the bottom line for me is this. I am called all sorts of things because I ride a bike, albeit mostly behind my back by folk who don't have the balls to say them to my face. And frankly, I couldn't give a stuff about them anyway unless they are getting in the way of important stuff to me. This includes making realistic plans to really reduce pollution in a genuinely sustainable way, and improving road safety for ALL vulnerable road users – rather than just talking emotive tosh about it – which many do.

So, sorry but I really am getting sick of being called a 'denier ' just because I don't wholeheartedly believe claims that are based on cherry-picked data and by people may be fiddling the figures to get the results they need to keep up appearances of being right about climate change and global warming.

Climategate: Leaked Emails Scandal – what scandal?

On return from bike show at the NEC, which I will talk about in due course, I discover this morning that an inquiry looms for climate change science and there are some, even at The Times who think this will reveal a potentially epic scandal. And the Telegraph opinion says is the 'Worst Scientific Scandal of Our Generation'. This set me pondering a number of things as the rain stopped outside and the sun shone through the window which keeps me remarkably dry when I'm here indoors. Not least of these ponderrings is this. Will this latest episode of brouhaha/potential scandal knock the wheels off the global warmers wagon – or be just another brick in the wall to divide believers and sceptics?...

...Whatever you think about man-made climate change and worldwide plans to cut personal mobility and spend trillions on addressing the global warming 'problem', there is no doubt that we are reaching a critical and potentially dangerous turning point. The point is this. After some resistance an inquiry is now looming to investigate a momentous leak of emails that cast doubt on the motives of climate change scientists. These communications are between key people at the University of East Anglia's UEA Climatic Research Unit CRU – which is at the vanguard of climate change 'science'.  And these folk are the source of claims that world leaders and their publics base many passionately held beliefs on, including the assertion that man-made global warming is real and is set to create insurmountable catastrophe and doom for us all.

And in case you didn't know, this latest development follows a big leak of emails that throws new light on the validity & reliability of 'evidence' from pro global warming scientists. But that has prompted more news carrying worms to crawl out of the woodwork of various skeleton cupboards. It now transpires that a BBC bod with a blog 'decided' not to bother reporting the leak as soon as he knew about this undeniably momentous and newsworthy event. 

So, it is now clearly crucial that we have an inquiry into this 'theft' of private email correspondence between key figures whose 'scientific' research and government advisory work is paid for with public funds. But there is far bigger and potentially more dangerous issue at stake here for us all in our age of mega spun 'news' and politicised science.

The future direction of government thinking about climate change thought the developed world could be changed in the aftermath of this inquiry – or not. And, what happens next may depend on one thing above all. Is it possible or likely that this investigation will o be a truly independent examination that will reveal as much truth as there is to be found between the lines of these communications? The Economist shares my concerns and view that 'political orthodoxy must not silence scientific argument'.

At this point I would love to say that the answer to that question is the same as it is on TV talent shows, namely, you the public decided. But sadly we can't always get what you want you know, but maybe if we try hard some times we just might find that we what get what we need...

Fuming behind a bus...

I was stuck on my scooter this morning behind a chuffing great Bendy-bus at a famous crossroads. As it happens, I use this landmark junction every week and, as I know to my cost in various ways – it has just been 'improved' at a cost of five million quid. Hoorah! Said a few, as Bold Mayor Boris reopened Oxford Circus – which the re-designers say is a "triumph of British engineering".

However, as it happened this morning, although my enforced stop behind the bus was a relatively brief episode, it was quite long enough to prompt a modicum of rage. Impatience? Perhaps. Bad weather in the dark depths of winter? No. In fact all of us in the jams, on all sides of the crossroads were being washed with crisp cool light and the sharp shadows that can breath sparks of life into London at this time of year. From were I was stuck though, I didn’t see anyone drawing comfort from that. Anyway, my rage was prompted not by what was happening in the middle of the 'momentously improved' crossroads – which was very little – as there were very few pedestrians. It was my recollection that none of us were as jammed in before the 'improvement' – which halved the road width into and out of the crossroads – from two lanes down to one. So, it's all very well for fans of this sort of 'improvement' to crow about it 'doubling the capacity for pedestrians' but nothing is for nothing. And the bottom line cost for all of us at those crossroads – including the pedestrians breathing in more fumes from static traffic and all who try to cut congestion problems by going by bike – is that the capacity for coping with traffic flow, including all the buses, has been halved. You couldn't chuffing-well make it up!

...They say that every picture tells a story and that the camera never lies. Well as a former pro photographer, I can tell you straight that it depends what you choose to take a picture of – and where you point the camera...

Motorbikes and Scooters offer London Olympics the most plausible hope for efficient transport...

So. BMW have got the gig to provide road transport options for knobs and competitors needing to whizz across London during the 2012 Olympics. But this is seen by some as 'serious disappointment'. Not least of whom are Nissan and the Greenies who are well pissed-off about this – and to some extent for very good reasons in my view.

But of course the initial mainstream media fuss is about BMW cars not their motorbikes, or indeed any other brand of bike or scooter. But I suspect that will change – or one of the abiding memories for many in the summer of 2012, will be the grim business of trying to get there and back across London to where they live or stay.

You see it's all very well for London Mayor Boris & his 'experts' to try and "stamp out car use" and go by shiny new blue trains, but most people ain't going to be anywhere near where the trains trundle to and from – and anyway this will only work as long as we don't get the wrong leaves on the line etc.. What is even more scary though is that the suits in charge of the logistics for the games want "100% of spectators to go by public transport cycle or foot"! This means that every day throughout the 2012 London Olympics, tens of thousands more people than usual will be trying to squeeze into buses and trains that are already full to bursting when most want to travel.

There are of course many ways to move people and stuff around London and out way beyond the East-End where most of the games will be. And, I have used every one – from a bicycle and shank's' pony to the latest thing in bus and rail.

But the most reliable and efficient mode – by about a million times, is going by motorbike or scooter. And this is a major reason why that's what I do more often than not – despite the crap traffic & red lights & bozos meandering into my path 'cos they're on the phone or pissed or just have their head in cloud cuckoo-land.

So my guess is that once London gets rammed with zillions of competitors, spectators and top bananas, a significant number of them are going to go by a PTW of some sort – or wish to F**K they had!

EU Directives on motorcycling and a new UK ad about tax, what ever next? A time to laugh or spit a few rivets...

As you may know, the prospects for people to continue or start riding a bike or scooter in the UK – as a jolly good and green way to tackle such scourges as congestion – have come in for a bit of a battering lately. And if you didn't and/or would like to know more, there is a fulsome feature outlining what is going on in the latest issue of Motorcycle Sport & Leisure magazine. The article looks best in hard copy. But if you're too tight or skint to buy one – you can read a web version here.

Anyway, having had quite a bit to do with trying to encourage a re-think about plans for a new motorbike parking tax in the centre of London and in the midst of a financial crisis, I have met some interesting new sources of support for bikers' concerns.

Not least of these is a bunch of bright eyed girls and boys at an outfit called the Tax Payers Alliance (TPA). And, by the cringe, the TPA have hatched a mischievous plan to release a big screen advert suggesting that a result of us being in the EU is that it costs us many billions of pounds. Now some say this lot are just a bunch of Tory Poodles making mischief, while other say they that they are an independent pack of Rottweilers tearing down the shrouds around chronic waste through barmy tax measures. All I can say is that when I first talked to them about a plan for pay-by-mobile-phone M/C parking charges, across the whole of central London in the City of Westminster, they instantly recognised that it was really nothing more than a new tax scheme – aimed just at congestion busting bikers and scooter riders.

So without further ado I suggest you take a look for yourself and draw your own conclusions. Go here for a computer screen preview. Lastly for now, I will admit that watching the ad prompted a chortle. But that has prompted yet another puzzle for me to ponder. I am turning into one of those Euro sceptisists that a are highly disparaged in many a politically correct circle? And, who knows or cares? Well one thing's for sure as ever, stuff happens as they say.

The sun has got its hat on in London...

The sun has got its hat on again in my beloved London Town. This is a yet another welcome end to a few days of torrential rain and wind – in what I suspect will be an ongoing series of sun & rain episodes that will continue long after I am around to ride through them.

Anyway, I am also delighted by two bits of news from Stephen Fry.  First, he has passed a landmark in the strange man & woman-made world of the world wide web. To be clear, this is landmark is actually only 'in' one of the techno networks to have evolved in the electronic ether. And, this virtual but effective space for chat is just one of the generally positive outcomes from the fine addiction that many humans have to try new ways to communicate and share experiences with each other.

He now has over a million followers on Twitter. Having only joined in with this medium for communication last week I am still very much at novice stage. Nevertheless, I have already found some new common ground between me and one or two of the people I engage with in the real world. Now though, as stephenfry 'follower' number 999,123, I am pleased to have made my own tiny contribution to his achievement –one millionth to be reasonably precise.

The second bit of good news relates to my recent suggestion that trousers are far more important than we may currently think. If you have the inclination and strength of mind to listen to nearly all of Stephen's 3 minute Tweetz Back from the Future you will see and hear what I mean –  albeit in an appropriately virtual kind of way of course. So I hope this all brings a bit of light into the darkness for all who are burdened by ongoing fears and concerns about the weather.

Sadly, I think that this group of particular burden-carriers includes my fellow Groucho Club member Stephen, who is not only far more illustrious than me but he also wrote the club rules. I also imagine that the likelihood of him reading any of this potential source of cheer is rather less than a million to one. But Hey Ho! It is a sunshiny day where I am and I hope it is, or will, be where you are too.

Climate change trousers...

A recent ride in the rain prompted thoughts of trousers and our prime minister's warning that we only have days to 'save the world' from climate change, and then a bit more about trousers...

I have been amazed by news that the classic British short film The Wrong Trousers is now sixteen years old. It is known for many things including the fact that it features a motorcycling inventor named Wallace – and his dog Grommet, who steadfastly rides in the sidecar by his side. This rings a distant bell for me as my first experiences of motorcycling were as a small kid in a big sidecar. It was, to the possible horror of classic bike fans, attached to an otherwise beautiful Ariel Square Four – as in a black version of this one. And, although I can't actually remember this, I never got wet when it rained because the appended 'chair' was one of those fully enclosed jobs that looked like an ovoid shed.

Anyway, as you might know already, the Wrong Trousers is actually not so focused on sidecar thrills and spills as it is on the potential benefits of pioneering new types of trousers – and the importance of choosing the right ones to wear for different situations. However, it has to be said that a leap of faith is required for full enjoyment of this racy classic as you need a capacity to believe in images of challenging events and trousers that seem grippingly real, but are actually made of plasterciene. And, as all informed members of the motorcycling community will know, the type of trousers we choose for riding is important – and can even become a highly contentious issue and subject for heated debate. Fear not though. I am not trying to re-ignite that focus for brouhaha. But I have had second thoughts about the ever expanding range of trousers we have to choose from, for facing various challenges in a constantly changing world.

This all started the other day when I needed to take my youngest daughter to an open day at an Art School she wanted to see. Going by bus, train, tram, bicycle or shanks's pony were all out because the trip would have taken us too many hours to do. And, although I do have access to a rather old car, driving it is bad for my blood pressure and the air in it's wake. So, I do most trips by my trusty Rocket lll or equally reliable Fuoco scooter, and in most of the weathers that keep Britain a green and generally pleasant land. Before taking to the road though, I usually dip into two sources of ideas about what sort of weather to expect. I look at the sky to make my own guess, and read the latest predictions from our state-of-the-art meteorologists – usually at the BBC. The forecast for the next few hours was for light showers as we set off. Guess what happened next?

Yep, you got it in one. It chucked it down. Throughout the trip we were enveloped in a relentless deluge. Ah, but was we bovvered though? Nah. But, this was not because either of us are rufty-tufty biker sorts. As a matter of fact, I am deeply committed to avoiding as much weather-made discomfort as I can. And, I am totally averse to immersing my nether regions in sogginess and the chilling feeling that sets in if rain gets through the final frontier of underpantage. But I also refuse to accept that it is necessary to get our vitals cold and wet, just because it is raining. Hello? We live in the 21st century and the dry bottom line is that effective waterproof and warm clothing is readily available.

Then I remembered that some folk, including our PM, say that we will have much more 'extreme' weather to cope with in the future because we humans are doing things to change the climate. And they say this includes riding motorbikes so we should stop. However, I find these 'problems' and 'solutions' a bit puzzling.

First, we live on a planet with a surface that is constantly changing – with huge plates of land-mass splitting apart and bashing into each other. Nevermind more floods and heatwaves or rising sea levels, this makes new continents and changes the shape of oceans. And, although I may have missed one, I cannot think of a single era of time when the earth's climate has not been in a state of change. Lastly, I struggle to understand how anyone can be sure about the weather or climate in 50 years time – when our experts often fail to accurately predict what will happen in the next few days or even hours.

So, maybe there is a better way to tackle the effects of climate change than stopping riding or paying loads more Green taxes – as our leaders and their 'experts' say we should. IMHO, we motorcyclists and one or two other groups of inspired souls have already found brilliant ways to cope with dramatic changes in climate. We choose the right trousers and carry on...