This morning as I stood waiting with my two shivering kids for a bus that would never come because there was a bus strike, I realised that my politics had changed forever. I thought back to an article I read many years ago about the privatisation of the bus networks which had the following quote in it:

A man who, beyond the age of 26, finds himself on a bus can count himself as a failure

Margaret Thatcher

She probably never said it, but I can easily see myself saying it ten years ago while swearing about the ultra low emission zone extension to my neighbours and how it meant I had to get rid of my 30 year old Land Rover. However, the last few years have caused me to look at a lot of my heart felt beliefs again. I have given up my car and use a mix of traditional public transport, lift services and hourly car rental. It works well enough but could be better. I now find myself quoting left wing south American revolutionaries:

A developed country is not a place where the poor have cars. It’s where the rich use public transportation.

Gustavo Petro

So bog off Boris let’s:

1. Stop giving abhorrent states loads of petro-pounds (even if they are not Russia)
2. Stop blaming poor people for decades of under-investment infrastructure
3. Pay for better public transport that doesn’t use fossil fuels

*for those not from the UK, tory is short for conservative not lavatory