BEFORE making his speech to the Labour Party Conference, the Deputy Prime Minister, John Prescott, instead of walking to the conference hall from his hotel, which would have taken about three minutes, went in his car both there and back.
This from the Minister of Transport who has been trying to persuade the British people to leave their cars at home unless their journeys were necessary.
Mr Prescott is prone to blunders, but really he should have realised that using his car for such a short journey would attract criticism from both the media and his political opponents.
After all, it is hypocritical to preach one thing to people and then do the opposite thing yourself.
When confronted by the media about using his car, Mr Prescott reacted in typical angry fashion by saying he took the car for security reasons.
That is nonsense because earlier in the week the Prime Minister and his wife had walked to the conference.
If the Deputy Prime Minister wants the British people to use their cars less to avoid traffic congestion on our roads he should set an example and practise what he preaches.
COUNCILLOR D PEARSON, Rawstrone Street, Blackburn.
Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article