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Lord James of BlackheathCyclists are “longing” to be run down, says peer
A Conservative peer has said that cyclists are “longing” to be run down and that campaigns to protect cyclists are “creating a new and separate society” that will lead to “catastrophic accidents”.
Lord James of Blackheath was speaking in a House of Lords debate on a bill to tackle littering from cars. He said that the bill did not go far enough in dealing with anti-social behaviour on the roads and suggested it be extended to deal with cyclists taking photographs of traffic.
The 75-year-old said: “The Times is pursuing, to a ludicrous degree, the cause of cyclists to the point where they are creating a new and separate society in London, in which cyclists think they have a superior law and control over everybody in a motor car.
“This is going to lead to some catastrophic accidents very soon.”
The particular manifestation of this that concerns Lord James seems to be cyclists taking photographs of drivers.
He said: “On three mornings, driving up the A3 in the Balham and Clapham area, I have seen cyclists put their cycles up against the central reservation — not the line where the bus lane is — stand in the middle of the road with a camera and defy you to run them down while they photograph you doing it.
“That is what they are longing for.
“We need to have that sort of behaviour excluded because it is going to lead to their demise and our prosecution: it is ridiculous.”
Lord James, a City businessman, has something of a reputation for bringing unusual subjects to the attention of the House of Lords. In 2010 he claimed that a mysterious ultrarich organisation known as Foundation X was willing to back the UK's recovery with huge interest-free loans, and in 2012 he claimed to have uncovered a massive $15 trillion money-laundering fraud from the United States Federal Reserve.
Another scourge of our times is also close to Lord James’ heart: the behaviour of schoolchildren in buses.
He had persuaded his wife to accompany him to Twickenham to watch the rugby and she had been “horrified” to see “school buses coming down the road full of children indulging in a pastime which is, I believe, called mooning.”
“The sight of some 40 children mooning simultaneously is not a pretty one.”
While Lord James did not say how he would punish cyclists taking photos or children displaying their bare bottoms, he said that his wife, a youth justice officer, watched motorbike police driving past the kids and said: “We have a law against this sort of thing. Why are they not being brought into court? I would put them away for a year if I got them.”
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
- kingleo 1 hour 7 min ago
Crossing the road is the big danger for pedestrians, not the cycle path.
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More of an oblique reference to a cyclist being taken out when in the cycle lane in the same scenario. Of course the cyclist pretty much gets the...
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How many have you seen posted on Social media with cars ? The police don't handle this well in any way .Wether it's cars or bikes. This is a not to...
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62 comments
I am utterly, utterly stunned.
A tory peer who is disappointed at seeing young boys arses?
Well I never thought I'd see the day that happened....
It didn't say if they were boys or girls.
stupid comment from an out of touch mp, peerage obviously improved this guy NOT ...
so if this 75 yr old is imagining things happening on roads that don't exist, perhaps there should be a way of taking his licence from him?
I think he should leave comment about cyclists to one side and dig deeper into the possible massive fraud being carried out by US Treasury to the tune of $15trillion that he was raising questions about previously.
This is flipping amazing. The guy's a total loon. He's also a terrible public speaker. I can't work out whether the mumbling and stumbling are related to his touching himself at various points, or if it is unrelated.
Oh dear grandad how did you get out from the home this time ? Let's get you back to your safe place away from normal sensible society.
Hang on he was already in the House of Lords
Perhaps they were only mooning when they recognised someone deserving of it
Take heart, my fellow cyclists.
These comments just add to the growing evidence that cyclists with cameras are having an effect on drivers which, though they might find the prospect of an awkward appearance on Youtube a little irksome, may well be the trigger for major improvements in driver behaviour.
And, although I'm sure that the noble lord's driving record is exemplary, he will now no doubt be keen to avoid doing a "Kate Hoey".
What evidence is that? Real or anecdotal? Besides I think you're over optimistic on that front, the next step in the arms race is that more drivers start installing cameras and we are inundated with youtube clips of crap and illegal cycling - which I guarantee will get a lot of media exposure. Nobody wins
I've seen several videos and reports of drivers modifying their behaviour once they "spot the camera". I suspect that a growing number of drivers are becoming aware of the recent successful prosecutions resulting from camera evidence. Certainly those drivers who have spotted themselves on Youtube will also no doubt be keen to drive more carefully in future.
As far as cameras used by drivers are concerned, many of us use them already. In my artic I have two.
If he's like this with mooning, how would he react to a pressed ham with gravy?
House of Lords debate on a bill to tackle littering from cars.
And there was me thinking that we had laws against littering already
There they go again, making motorists think they're a special case. Surely there are more pressing things they could be debating?
NB. Environmental Protection Act 1990
Sect 87 1)A person is guilty of an offence if he throws down, drops or otherwise deposits any litter in any place to which this section applies and leaves it.
(2)This section applies to any place in the area of a principal litter authority which is open to the air,
And the winner of "Cockwomble of the Week" in the face of some *very* stiff competition.....
And the winner of "Cockwomble of the Week" in the face of some *very* stiff competition.....
I wonder if they made him remove his tin foil hat at the door of the House of Lords?
I particularly like his comment that cyclists defy him to run them over which is ridiculous as it would lead to his prosecution...he clearly hasn't ever read anything about the CPS in this country.
complete nutter. Out of touch. Why give him airtime?
I'm refusing to get angry like I'm expected to, this guy's a joke
I was a bit concerend when I read the or as of in this sentence...
"While Lord James did not say how he would punish cyclists taking photos or children displaying their bare bottoms"
Did he attend a private school in the bad old days? it might explain some of his attitudes.
I think a twitter campaign against this twit might make him realise the power of democracy.
started reading this expecting to be angry and ended up have a right laugh, thanks Lord James
Yes - they're 'longing' to suffer serious injury and death.
Another cretin who thinks that hitting a cyclist is nothing more than a slight inconvenience to the cyclist rather than a life-altering incident.
Perfect example of why the House of Lords is not fit for purpose.
In fairness, the HoL can be an excellent body for scrutiny on a number of issues. The problem comes when we get debates like this, and it really does show just how stuck in the past too many of its members are.
Where to start with this one.
The A3 doesn't run through Balham.
The A24 through Balham doesn't have a central reservation.
The A3 through Clapham doesn't have a central reservation (the central reservation stops before Wandsworth).
I've never seen anyone standing in the middle of the road with a camera.
I think the nobel Lord may need to viist his GP for a check up.
Details, details. Personally, I'm desperate to be run over.
$15 trillion you say? There might be something in it!
Hmm. After long and careful consideration, I think we have three options here: Lord James is as mad as:
a) a fish
b) a fruitcake
c) a box of spanners
Postcards to House of Lords, Abingdon Street, London SW1A 0AA.
This man is clearly delusional
If i ever come across this guy i'm going out of my way to moon him
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