The over officious nature of those who deem themselves suited to lead should automatically exclude them from any public office. Remember a couple of years back when some of us objected to the insanely authoritarian response to covid? And again when we declined their experimental vaccine? Yes, we were conspiracy theorists. Of course, as we predicted, we have been proven correct and the things we warned about have come to pass. I am still awaiting the mass apology, resignations, prosecutions and executions. One can always hope.
No, the playbook is being repeated.
A council has called critics of a net zero traffic scheme ‘conspiracy theorists’ in a clip likened to a ‘hostage video’.
Oxfordshire County Council chiefs are defending a £6.5 million trial that will create climate zones on six inner-city roads in Oxford – meaning ANPR cameras will fine motorists £70 if they use them without permission
From 2024, car users will have to apply for a permit to travel through the ‘traffic filters’ for up to 100 days a year, or 25 days if they live elsewhere in the county, but no restrictions will apply to cyclists, mopeds, vans, buses, taxis and emergency vehicles. Blue badge-holders will also be exempt.
Cllr Liz Leffman, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, has now released a clip voicing her ‘extreme disappointment’ at the ‘misinformation’ surrounding the plan, saying that ‘conspiracy theories are causing real-world harm and need to stop’.
We saw this one coming too. What the scumbags of SAGE did was to demonstrate that bullying and scare tactics do create a compliant population. Apart, that is, from the awkward squad, who are then insulted and demonised. But for some reason, this one isn’t working as well as expected. The press aren’t falling for it. Maybe even they are finally reading the room and realising that these people are certifiably insane. That their scams are just that, scams. That this is just one thing too many. And the behaviour being exposed is one of a communist dictator trying desperately to keep the narrative afloat. Maybe, just maybe, the press have realised that although the covid narrative worked, it did finally fall apart and that we were right. Perhaps they can see this one as a repeat and they don’t want to be on the wrong side of it. One can hope, of course.
Still, thousands of angry residents have signed petitions and the council have notified Thames Valley Police in December about the abuse its staff has faced.
Abuse is the very least they should receive. The people of Oxford don’t want this scheme. They have made their views clear – overwhelmingly, despite the weasel words about the 93%. There are too many of them to just ignore. Of course, releasing a video insulting them is bound to work. Isn’t it?
When the Ropers mobilise against the scheme the council will reverse ferret because to go ahead would be islamophobic.
The monitoring cameras look like they could very easily be accidentally damaged, perhaps by someone carelessly flying a drone.
Or an angle grinder. By someone wearing a yellow hi-vis jacket.
Maybe they will need to have cameras watching the cameras.
It doesn’t even need that. If everyone simply ignored it and didn’t pay the fines, it would be unworkable. It’s already happening in other cities with ULEZ zones.
Sure, but the angle grinder sends a suitably guillotinous message that bureaucratic “sand-in-the-machinery” doesn’t quite cover.
I realise that criminal damage is a step too far for some, but when reasonable democratic protest is denied, refused or ignored (as in this case), then alternatives become unavoidable.
Better to lose a few replaceable metal poles, surely?
À la The Godfather, it would be great for Cllr Liz Leffman to wake up one morning and find a severed anti-freedom camera in her bed.
Oh, very good. I like that.
In the last 6 months or so, the truth has begun to be reported. I’ve seen a couple of “I’m getting rid of my ludicrously overpriced milk float because it’s utterly fucking uselss” articles from people who, a year ago, would have been fully paid up skills.
We are starting to see proper critiques of unreliables appearing. A handful to date, but they are starting to appear.
I think winnie the pooh flu might turn out to be a blessing in disguise. As you say, the party line was followed far too rigidly for far too long, but it did fall apart.
It did seem to convince the anti human cancer that these people are that their time had come and that they could do absolutely what they wanted with no bite back.
This will go ahead in Oxford next year, and watching from outside I have to confess to relishing the prospect. Another year will have passed of – hopefully- the trickle of reported truth becoming a bit stronger. Hopefully there will have been some noticeable power outages.
More “green” hypocritical double standards from the self styled “rulers”. More people unable to afford energy Bill’s etc etc.
Then, it goes live, all in the name of “nett zero”
I’m damned sure it will. How long will it remain so?
Sorry “shills”!
It is a bit galling that we have been able to keep our income from our pension fund low enough to avoid being taxed on it. We have now had to increase it to cover our energy costs and so are now paying tax on it. My loathing for the political classes increases daily now. Stupidity malevolence and incompetence combined.
“…but no restrictions will apply to … vans…”
Ooh, I’ve spotted a loophole. Swap your SUV for a Transit with crew cab, or a Mercedes if you want to go a bit more upmarket. Even more load carrying and still transport for five.
There you go.
https://www.mercedes-benz.co.uk/vans/en/vito-crew-van
Vito? Mechanicals as good as any competitor but awful bodywork quality: listen for the rust flakes falling off it . . .
Well I think that there is plenty of choice, Hyundai do one I think and I quite like Korean cars.
Has anybody in Oxford considered re-identifying their car as a moped?
One thinks of good old Lyndon B “I just want the bastards to deny it”.
Why can’t “driving experience” be like “lived experience”? If the latter can pretty well rewrite the fundamental workings of the universe, how can some by laws from a bunch of infantilised half wits be so immutable?
It has now come to my notice that, if you aren’t actually using the crew van as a commercial vehicle, it has to be registered as a car. So maybe I just have to do the occasional moving job with my SUV so that It can identify as a van.
Not all of Oxford is ‘dreaming spires’. Some parts of Oxford probably have a lot of van owners, others less likely. How will the politics and sociology of that play out?
The Gown will frown
The Town will chop down.