'It's a scandal London roads are only for the brave' says London Mayoral candidate

That was 45 or so years ago.
Do you want me to call a nurse for you?

Kie, whilst you might find Goldsmith's wealth at odds with your views, it ironically makes him less susceptible to being neutered by party whips which is something UK politics needs more of. An example of which was his work on the "recall" Bill which would have vastly improved accountability of MPs and was ultimately scuppered by the weasel actions of Clegg.
A politician with consistent principles is a pretty rare breed and I will be interested to see what his policies will be.

Diane Abbot is touting for votes by stating the obvious.

Please feel free to search the internet for anything she has said in favour of cycling in the last... ooh... 28 years as an MP. Standard MP's PR shot would be of them on a bicycle. Can't find one of Diane on a bike.

If you're using your vote as a cyclist, it won't be well spent here.

If you're vote is 'left' then Tessa Jowell has done the 'bike' PR thing but Gareth Thomas does triathlons and Christian Wolmar looks like he lives on a bike.

I agree Greg, it's absolutely awful up here and not somewhere that any one should even think about coming to ride a bike. Stay in London everyone, please.

Having been cycling in London this last week, city centre and south London I found it a whole lot more pleasent than Manchester. I saw only a few people on mobiles whilst dowb here it's often one in three.

You might be brave but at least you're rewarded with CSH, we have nothing at all. In fact worse than that there are no red routes in Manchester so ALL roads have parked cars on it so my kids have the weave in and out as they ride anywhere.

In the first half hour of riding from Victoria to morden I saw a policeman give someone a ticket for parking in a bus lane. In 15 years of living in Manchester I've never seen than, you could park a battleship for a week and no one one would act upon it.

You might be brave, but your have no idea how much better you've got it. In that respect it really is grim up north.

She pretty much represents all the worst excesses and hypocrisy of new Labour and pretty much any other forked tongued politician.

I'm not sure she is principled at all. She is great at highlighting other politicians deficiencies but there is part of me that wonders if she still lives in the constituency. I've never seen her here.

The whole deal with her son going off to private school basically put her position in perspective.

I always think she sounds like she stuffed a box of chocolates in her mouth, but is trying to hide it.

What would help a long way is education (Gov sponsered intensive 4 week TV campaign during prime time tv, newspaper ads) on how cyclists benefit Joe Public in terms of ,
- reduced congestion,
- pollution,
- noise pollution,
- reduced long term burden on NHS,
- and how cost of cycling infrastructure is paid for , and relative costs to road infrastructure,
- why (until such infrastructure is extensive) the gov, endorses cyclists not to 'kerb hug',
- Why insurance is so much lower for cyclists
- who pays for roads and how
- how increased cycling benefits everyone not just cyclists.

The message is not being communicated and we still have Joe Blogs happy to sit all day in congestion caused by cars but moaning at every fleeting encounter with cyclists.

Then you have UKIP chasing Joe Blogs votes by pandering to views that are not sustainable in the long term ...

Once you have public support, then all the other barriers will be lifted.

She was my MP for 4 years when I lived in Hackney, I abstained from voting for her in that time, even by MP standards her blatant hypocrisy was too much. She gave other MPs a really hard time for sending their kids to schools outside their constituencies then what did she end up doing? Yep, sent her son off to a public school because Hackney's schools weren't good enough. She plays up the single black working mother bit to give her cred in the Labour party. This is as much about her trying to shore up cyclist votes in Hackney as it is about the mayoral election. She was never interested in cycling safety in Hackney at all when I lived there...

I'm also a long term Labour voter. I have mixed feelings about Dianne Abbott. She's been willing to go against the party line when principles are at stake. She's tough. But she is abrasive and I'm not convinced she really understands cycling issues.

I'm not a fan though I am a long time Labour voter. She's not my MP. I don't get the impression she understands the issues with regard to cycling in london. She's simply not correct if she thinks cycling in the city is only for the brave. The statistics say otherwise.

What is a problem is that there are many fairly straightforward measures that could be introduced that could boost cycling capacity while making it safer, while also improving overall traffic flow.

If you have seen her performances on "This Week" (broadcast after Question Time on the BBC) you will really know what she is like

Often abrasive, argumentative and with quite extreme views, as well as showing breathtaking ignorance when arguing with other guests on the programme.

I note that, like many politicians standing for election, she has a "vision". No policies, just a "vision".

Or in other words, if elected she will do nothing whatsoever to improve the lot of bike riders.

She has never mentioned anything pro-bike in the past, and has never acted in support of any pro-cycling bills, suggestions or debates for the bettering of like for bike riders in parliament, so one assumes that she is not in any way pro-cycling, and that this speech is the usual politician's lies attached to candidacy for a post.

This is a perfect example of a politician trying to put on the clothes of a protest group to secure their votes. Several parties tried to do this in the late 80s and 90s, putting on "green credentials" to woo "green voters", and it was all falsehood and PR. This is the same, but the bicycle and its rider, the die-in attendee, the would-be bike commuter who is terrified daily; these are now the pivot of the shameless vote-grubbing and PR built out of lies.

She is continuing a tired piece of drivers' bullshit; to conflate bike riders and "the poor"; to suggest that those are merely the same people. Those on bikes are just people who can't afford to drive, and anyone who is better off is expected to be driving.
This is an anti-cycling sentiment, not a pro-cycling sentiment.
On London's roads, the commuters on bikes are not primarily dominated by those too poor to afford to drive. She has unwittingly revealed that she has no understanding whatsoever of the issues, and it is not much of a stretch to expect that, in truth, she doesn't care. As with all politicians, he just wants power.

After the designs for CS1 were heavily watered down to have minimum impact on motor traffic, I wonder what her actions and stance were.

I wouldn't trust her as far as i could throw her. She maybe a Labour MP and i'm a staunch Labour voter but i dont like her one bit. Glad i live in the north east.

Christian Wolmar looks like the Labour candidate with the best cycling credentials.

But it looks like the race is between Tessa Jowell and Sadiq Khan if the bookies are right.

Private members bills ?
Sitting in the all party cycling committed ?
Lobbying ?
I differ in view, there is quite a lot that can be done as an MP if you really believe in something.

She is a sitting MP and what has she done whilst sitting in a position of power and influence to change the status quo ?
Nothing to see here other than a soundbite politician looking for votes