Matthew Parris times article

[Bigtallfatbloke]

wouldnt a wire take out a motorcyclist as well? Or a horse rider? ....might even scratch a 4x4 with any luck

 

[simon l& and a half]

What worries me is that the members of The Countryside Alliance see this article. As a right-wing group they make the Hitler Youth look like the WI.
I can imagine the local Young Farmers thinking this a super wheeze to teach those townies a lesson.

well, quite. When that lot are tanked up anything can happen.

 

[NickM]

Yet another celebrity tosser to lump in with the likes of Fry, Hoggart and that Sean Something prat in the Independent who is such a nonentity I can't remember his name.

Unless, of course, somebody knows Parris's address. In which case, piano wire strung across his porch would seem to be appropriate.

 

[Cathryn]

Fry? Steven Fry? Tosser?

He's a national treasure. I adore him!! I shall fight you, sir, for the honour of Sir Steven of Fry!

 

[Pete]

wouldnt a wire take out a motorcyclist as well? Or a horse rider? ....might even scratch a 4x4 with any luck

..such as here (at about 2:35).
Yes I know you've all seen it before!

Yet another celebrity tosser to lump in with the likes
of Fry, Hoggart and that Sean Something prat in the Independent who is such a nonentity I can't remember his name.

Hoggart - for all that he's still a prat - has been keeping very quiet of late, re cyclists. I suspect he's already on 'watch'.

 

[Twenty Inch]

An ex-East End cyclist, now living in NZ, has added his email to the pile in Harding's inbox. Let's keep it up.

 

[Elmer Fudd]

I've sent my e-mail to t'editor

 

[mcd]

Too little too late?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3110970.ece

No offence to the author, but the article doesn't carry as much weight as if it had come from the Paper's Editor. But if this article gets more hits and comments than Mr Prat's one it would show that if you want publicity, write a positive article about cycling. So get clicking!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3110970.ece

 

[Brock]

I see Jack Thurston has posted his own measured response to Parris' article over at The Bike Show page, along with a list of such wire incidents from real life.

 

[simon l& and a half]

that's a brilliant letter.

The question of incitement may turn on whether or not Parris might reasonably foresee somebody acting on his advocacy of piano wire. I would contend that he should have considered the possibility, and, having done so, should have concluded that somebody might well be motivated by his article to do the very thing he suggests. My letter to the police referred to instances, and Mr. Thurston has referred to others. One might conclude that Parris is guilty of four particular sins.
1. Wickedness. It was a wicked thing to write
2. Ignorance. If he didn't know that wire was being strung across paths (and he would struggle to convince me that he didn't) then he should have done
3. Indolence. If he didn't know then he might have spent five minutes googling to find out
4. Vanity. It might be that he woke up in the morning convinced that his brilliant method for decapitating cyclists was entirely original, and so original that nobody other than he could have possibly thought it up. Which brings us back neatly to wickedness.
The general point I'm trying to make is that it is the responsibility of journalists to ensure that they are not inciting murder.

 

[simon l& and a half]

Too little too late?

far, far too little. Only Parris can apologise for his own sins.

 

[Cycling Naturalist]

This is the first time that I have ever come across an article by Matthew Parris that is anything other than well reasoned and humane. I think that his mistake is that having reasonably identified the disgraceful habit of (probable) roadies throwing their drinks containers and irritatingly hogging the road with their mini pelotons, he then goes on to express some incredibly nasty sentiments which are so far removed from his normal approach as to be barely credible that they came from his pen. He's done himself no favours here at all. Nor of course has he done responsible cyclists any favours either as this is yet another article which will stoke up general prejudices against cycling.

I agree entirely. He's normally much too intelligent to assume that because a minority misbehave, then everyone else does. He usually comes across as a very decent sort of chap. I'm surprised that the nastiness of his piece escaped the attention of senior editorial staff. It has all the hallmarks of having been written in the throes of an almighty hangover and being processed for publication without even being fully subbed.

 

[wafflycat]

Too little too late?

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3110970.ece

No offence to the author, but the article doesn't carry as much weight as if it had come from the Paper's Editor. But if this article gets more hits and comments than Mr Prat's one it would show that if you want publicity, write a positive article about cycling. So get clicking!

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3110970.ece

Whilst it's good to see a more balanced article, it looks like it's The Times trying to cover its 4R$3 rather than any real apology for the Parris rant.

 

[Twenty Inch]

Good to see a few people jumped down Goodey's throat!

 

[Pete]

far, far too little. Only Parris can apologise for his own sins.

Either that, or if the egregious Mr. Parris either gets the order of the boot out of the paper altogether (only to land with both feet in the offices of the Wail I reckon ), or if he gets soundly and roundly carpeted by said Mr. Harding (who's got I wonder how many E-mails to plough through now, seeing as his E-mail address has had more circulation than any other editor? Anyone care to esimate?). If Harding takes the decent line and does the job he's paid to do, if he realises what he's got to do and gets that odious Parris stood in front of his desk, who'd be a fly on the wall? I would, might be interesting.

But of course this assumes a lot about Harding, whom I know nothing about.