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| Cycling to the left or to right? | Cycling to the left or to right? |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Travelling by bike has never been a more popular method of transport for UK politicians. But does it break down along party lines? Norman Smith investigated for BBC Radio 4's Today. | Travelling by bike has never been a more popular method of transport for UK politicians. But does it break down along party lines? Norman Smith investigated for BBC Radio 4's Today. |
| Boris Johnson is well known for his cycling credentials David Cameron and Boris Johnson are just two of the growing band of high profile Tories who use pedal-power to get them to work. | |
| Their numbers have been swelled by shadow chancellor George Osborne and fellow Conservative MPs Oliver Letwin, David Willetts and Ed Vaizey. | Their numbers have been swelled by shadow chancellor George Osborne and fellow Conservative MPs Oliver Letwin, David Willetts and Ed Vaizey. |
| So what is causing this shift away from the chauffeur-driven car and on to the old fashioned bike - once considered by some to be the mode of transport of the left? | So what is causing this shift away from the chauffeur-driven car and on to the old fashioned bike - once considered by some to be the mode of transport of the left? |
| FROM THE TODAY PROGRAMME In pictures: Easy riders | |
| Wantage MP Ed Vaizey rejects any suggestion of a political shift. "Some people like to pretend its a left-wing pastime because they conjure up these images of miners cycling to work. | Wantage MP Ed Vaizey rejects any suggestion of a political shift. "Some people like to pretend its a left-wing pastime because they conjure up these images of miners cycling to work. |
| "But actually it's both a Conservative and a right-wing pastime, if I can draw that distinction. | "But actually it's both a Conservative and a right-wing pastime, if I can draw that distinction. |
| "Remember John Major's famous speech about 'old maids cycling to church'? And I think that brings up the point about the heritage of cycling - it's very much woven into the British character. | "Remember John Major's famous speech about 'old maids cycling to church'? And I think that brings up the point about the heritage of cycling - it's very much woven into the British character. |
| "It's a Conservative issue in terms of nostalgia, but it's also a right-wing issue because its about the freedom of the individual. It's about taking ones own action against an over-bearing stage."Cycling the wrong way up a one-way street got David Cameron into trouble | |
| Geoffrey Wheatcroft, the political writer and author of Le Tour - a history of the Tour de France - says he believes cycling is now more right leaning. | Geoffrey Wheatcroft, the political writer and author of Le Tour - a history of the Tour de France - says he believes cycling is now more right leaning. |
| "On the whole it was a sport of the left - it was taken up by the Fabians: people like HG Wells and the Webbs and Bernard Shaw, though he was an extremely clumsy cyclist," he said. | "On the whole it was a sport of the left - it was taken up by the Fabians: people like HG Wells and the Webbs and Bernard Shaw, though he was an extremely clumsy cyclist," he said. |
| "And it was the sport of young left-wing clerks - the kind of people who don't really exist anymore." | "And it was the sport of young left-wing clerks - the kind of people who don't really exist anymore." |
| However, Labour MP Gwyn Prosser, chairman of the Commons all-party cycling group, is dismissive of the idea that cycling has become right-wing. | However, Labour MP Gwyn Prosser, chairman of the Commons all-party cycling group, is dismissive of the idea that cycling has become right-wing. |
| I have to say it is not an ideological crusade as far as I'm concerned - it is just a convenient way of getting about Oliver LetwinConservative MP | I have to say it is not an ideological crusade as far as I'm concerned - it is just a convenient way of getting about Oliver LetwinConservative MP |
| "I think it is more of a left-wing tradition - it's more egalitarian. A bike is a bike," he said. | "I think it is more of a left-wing tradition - it's more egalitarian. A bike is a bike," he said. |
| "Bikes have two wheels and they spell out equality and inclusiveness and egalitarianism." | "Bikes have two wheels and they spell out equality and inclusiveness and egalitarianism." |
| So are the Tory MPs who have taken up the sport, just trying to get into their leader's good books? | So are the Tory MPs who have taken up the sport, just trying to get into their leader's good books? |
| Mr Letwin rejects this assertion. "I have been cycling for 10, 15 years and I use one of those sort of wonderful Brompton bikes - a splendid British invention. | Mr Letwin rejects this assertion. "I have been cycling for 10, 15 years and I use one of those sort of wonderful Brompton bikes - a splendid British invention. |
| "But I have to say it is not an ideological crusade as far as I'm concerned. It is just a convenient way of getting about." | "But I have to say it is not an ideological crusade as far as I'm concerned. It is just a convenient way of getting about." |
| However, if the Tories win the next election, then their cycling enthusiasts should beware. | However, if the Tories win the next election, then their cycling enthusiasts should beware. |
| Like many one-time Labour cyclists, they have to abandon their bikes for the tyranny of a ministerial car. | Like many one-time Labour cyclists, they have to abandon their bikes for the tyranny of a ministerial car. |
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