Monday, July 30, 2007

Oh the cheek of it

I was reading 'LondonLite' the free evening paper, on my way home today on the bus, and discovered that the Mayor of Kensington and Chelsea has had a humdinger of a car bought for him - a Bentley - at a cost of £115k, and moreover, this is one of the most polluting cars currently on the market.

It really is very silly. I feel annoyed about it. I mean, how selfish and stupid, particularly as they are trying to encourage folk in that borough to buy more economical and ecological cars by raising the price of parking permits for the worst emission offenders. The Bentley does 10 MILES TO THE GALLON! aaaaggghhh. It also has a top speed of 195mph and the max speed you can drive anywhere in Kensington and Chelsea is 40mph. GGrrrrrr!!!! ;)

The council try to justify it by saying that they haven't bought a new car for the Mayor in 30-40 years and this car will last much longer than the likes of a more ecological car such as the Toyota Prius. Hmmmppphh...I wonder how long they really will keep it. It's all a load of baloney and smokescreens. The paper stated they could even buy something fairly classy such as a Lexus and still pay only £35k and be more environmentally sensitive.

They really should be setting an example. If everyone used that kind of justification for a new humdinger of an inefficient excuse for a car, then where would we be? I find it very hard to excuse and understand this kind of expense (the expense of taxpayers no less).

It just doesn't add up. I do declare the world has gone mad.

4 comments:

Joyce Hopewell said...

Methinks m'sieur le mayor maybe has an inflated ego & sense of self importance if he thinks he's worthy of a Bentley. What's wrong with a nice bike for sunny days and an eco-friendly car for rainy ones?

Funny how attitudes are changing. Have you heard of Voluntary Simplicity? It's an attitude, not a budget & promotes a more human scale for living & working, with thoughtful consumption, resistance to artificially created "needs"& sensitivity to the limits of natural resources. The phrase "Voluntary Simplicity" was coined in 1936 by Richard Gregg, a political philosopher.

seev said...

Wow, that mayor of Kensington and Chelsea sure does have cheek! By today's exchange rate that £115,000 Bentley would be $234,000!! Blows my mind! And it gets only 10 miles per gallon with a top speed of 195mph in a 40mph zone? He's got to be kidding. But I guess he isn't. I thought things like that only happened in America. :-) ;-)

Anonymous said...

These 'business as usual' merchants continue to get cover from our politicians - who apparently accept the diagnosis of global warming but do not appear to take any urgent action to address it.

Barbara said...

Hi Abby,
My God... talk about setting the standard for clean and economical living.
That's horrid.
You know that the Greens can count on me; I foot it, or use mass transit year around.
Have a nice day Abby.

P.S. I'am thinking about Hugh,Maylis & the kitties they fly off tomorrow.