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News and Comment September 2023

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22 September (Part 1) - Diesels, Dames, DVDs and Disposals

Arbuthnot LaneIs there any Bexley news worth reporting right now? Probably not. There is no significant Council meeting to report until 5th October and BiB is reduced to noting that crime levels in Bexley have fallen to the point where the police who park illegally have nothing better to do than arrest van drivers who park perfectly legally next to TfL ULEZ cameras. Presumably if you report a burglary or stolen car they will respond immediately and shoplifters will no longer loot stores safe in the knowledge that they are immune from prosecution.

Yesterday I buckled to Khan’s ULEZ tyranny by arranging a lift into Bexleyheath for a diesel driver and, separately, a Councillor reported how he had to sell his Euro 5 car and unnecessarily spend money on a second hand Euro 6 compliant diesel. That’s the second such Councillor I know of who has had to dispose of a perfectly good car and thereby save 4,000 lives a year.

I briefly considered debunking some of the nonsense that circulates about electric cars. It is really annoying to be told that I am polluting the air with my brake dust while the truth is that I rarely use the brakes. It is fun to demonstrate to sceptics how one can travel across town and beyond while never touching the brake pedal. The motor in regeneration mode is good enough for all but an emergency stop. After five years the brake pads show insignificant wear and the battery health still registers 100% but the naysayers would have you believe I will be shelling out £15,000 for a new one any day now.

There have been no fuel costs at all (solar and Sainsbury’s powered) over the last 3,000 miles but unfortunately the rip off insurance companies more than offset that saving so I fully accept that EVs are not for everyone.

What else for a rant?

Not being well up in the realm of popular culture I did not really know who Russell Brand was but he is in law an innocent man. Yesterday Dame Caroline Dinenage who is some jumped up Tory MP no one has ever heard of, ignored Magna Carta and told the Media companies to cancel him. That single act undid, for me, all the good Rishi Sunak did with his Green speech the day before. Why has he not sacked her from Chairmanship of his Culture, Media and Sport Committee? As gutless as I have come to expect.

In an attempt to educate myself on this Brand character I grabbed a 2008 DVD off the shelf (†) and watched it last night. From what I have learned of Brand it would appear that he was playing himself. The film was given a 15 certificate but included full on willy waving - literally, but not Brand’s - and titties galore. I am not averse to such things but it was the context and dialogue that got to me. It was cringe inducing and embarrassing to watch even though I was alone. (My mother once told me off for showing her Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise’s Rain Man on tape.) If that is Brand’s life he is likely to be guilty. But it was fiction; at least I assumed it was.

Can we get to the point now?

Why are the housing associations flogging off their property at a rate of knots? What do young renters think about it and why are all our Councillors silent about it?

Three more to add to the six already reported over the past four weeks.

Rightmove web page Rightmove web page Rightmove web page

Image 1 - Rightmove website
Image 2 - Rightmove website
Image 3 - Rightmove website


† For the perverts, the film was Forgetting Sarah Marshall and Rain Man contained one use of the F word.

 

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