Sadly it seems that cars are the new religion in our town
I HAVE been campaigning against the excesses of the car culture for over 20 years.
It is always heartening to hear other campaigners speaking out and demonstrating on those same issues, whether it be on these pages or in public spaces which are under threat. The British seem particularly addicted to cars and nowhere more so than Stockport.
Opposing new roads in a borough like our own is tantamount to blasphemy and standing up to the tyranny of dangerous drivers is nothing less than heresy. People worship their cars. Cars are the new religion.
There is no hope for the 1,750 people who are killed on Britain’s roads every year. Where is the justice for the 40,000 victims who are killed ever year in Britain from respiratory diseases, attributed by the World Health Organisation to exhaust fumes.
Last year there were 360,000 new cases of cancer, by 2033 half a million new cases a year are expected. And how many of those cases have been caused or exacerbated by vehicle fumes.
Only this week, we were told that exercising daily alongside busy roads, whether it be walking or jogging, had the same effect on your lungs as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. Then consider that smoking last year killed 90,000 UK citizens.
But let us not put too much blame on councils. The real power, after all, resides with the Prime Minister. Theresa May cares nothing for all this suffering and even less for the loss of countryside and tranquillity. The woman’s values are poor beyond belief. The planet is dying and all you can get from her is Brexit.
I wouldn’t trust a woman who owns more shoes than a shoe factory or indeed any woman who spends £900 on a pair of trousers. The next thing you’ll know is that she wants a £40 billion divorce. It would be funny if it wasn’t all so tragic.
If Mrs May is not interested in doing the job properly, I can think of a woman who would be, when she’s not singing that is.
You might have someone else in mind. John Tyers Marple