Ealing North
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Steve Pound MP Ealing North |
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July 2005 - Gazette Article I am one of nature’s pessimists and I seek never to tempt fate lest it lands me a swift blow to the vitals. When bits started falling off my faithful but elderly VW Golf I knew that it would take more than the magical mechanical ministrations of Sam, the Man at Roxy Drive to keep her on the road and I started looking round for a new motor. Although some may have felt confident about the election I was taking no risks and waited until I was back at Westminster before I sent off for the glossies and started talking to strange men in pubs about cubic capacity and thrust. Mrs.P.then came up with a stormer. Knowing the tensions that exist between the Mayor of London and myself and being all too aware of my fury at forking out a fiver a day in congestion charge she suggested buying a vehicle that would not only be carbon neutral but exempt from the soon to be £8 a day charge. I have progressed in terms of transport from a Velocette LE to a Tiger Cub and Triumph Bonneville via a brief flirtation with Lambrettas to beefy shaft drive Hondas and onwards to the economical and modestly sized hatchback that is the car of choice of the suburbanite without the benefit of off-street parking. Like most of my generation I had assumed that non petrol or diesel vehicles required a plug socket and a fifty-foot lead or a half-ton battery pressing the suspension down like a Los Angeles low-rider. How wrong I was! Those nice people at Ellesmere Port make a Vauxhall that runs on Liquid Petroleum Gas and produces no fumes or exhaust gases. Ah, I hear you say, but where on earth can you buy LPG? The Shell station at Hanger Lane could not have been more helpful and even showed me how to fill the tank without a major disaster, BP on the A40 westbound will also supply all the LPG a person could wish for and there are hundreds of other outlets in the south-east. I appreciate that £20 to fill the tank is a bit steep but the car runs just like a real one and I comfort myself with the warm glow of satisfaction that comes from reducing my personal carbon emissions and doing my bit to meet Kyoto targets. Working out the savings in fuel and the dreaded congestion charge I’ve calculated that the additional cost of a dual-fuel vehicle is paid off within nine months. There may well be a catch but I can’t see what it might be. I’d strongly recommend that anyone planning to buy a new motor take a look at LPG. Most cars car be converted but there are more and more production models coming on to the market. I knew that I’d made the right decision when I received a cheerful text from Ken’s office reminding me that the daily congestion charge increases to £8 a day on the 4th.July. Not for me it doesn’t, Mr.Mayor! |
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| Disclaimer | Copyright | Designed by Bassam Mahfouz. Promoted by Julian Bell, The Labour Party, Ruskin Hall, 16 Church Road, W3 8PP on behalf of Steve Pound MP |
