There are a few things I want to clear up here.
I have absolutely no problem from a personal perspective with Martin deleting my posts. In fact he didn't just delete mine but two other cyclists post. My issue was not that he did not have the right to do that, my issue was that Martin, being in an excellent position to push for better behaviour on the roads (due to his job and his obvious passion for cycling) was risking it, by appearing to delete all criticism. As I have said countless times in this thread, it has always been my belief that openness, honesty etc are vital if we as cyclists are to be taken seriously. I'm sure Martin is open and honest. However by deleting files it gives off the impression that he is not.
I too post videos and campaign. If I feel that someone is compromising what I personally believe in, then I, as someone who is naturally outspoken feel the need to say something. People can of course take it or leave it. That is why I said that I can't personally support someone who does not appear to be open, as it compromises my own ideals.
So, no, I was not 'hurt' by my comments being deleted, and I am certainly not a 'Prima Donna'.
BM, you are someone who's opinion I respect a great deal. I don't always agree with you, but I respect your views. However, you do have a tendency to come out with one liners like you did here which are way out of order. That was quite simply name calling, which you felt the need to repeat as I did not respond the first time. If you feel I am out of line, say so. Back it up with examples etc. But just posting comments about someone 'acting like a Prima Donna' is name calling, pure and simple.
And origamist, thanks for giving me your time, even if it is given in a mildly condescending manor.
It just so happens that as soon as my comments were deleted that I did ask Martin personally why he had deleted them. At the same time here people started debating it, so I went along with the debate, that is what I do. Perhaps I came across wrong, and people have misunderstood my motives. As I've mentioned above, they are and never have been personal, they are purely out of concern that cyclists are seen to be wanting dialog with other road users and not just wanting to dictate terms. Openness is in my opinion vital to useful dialog.
Martin has since got back to me. Interestingly his reasons for wanting to delete my comments were actually understandable. The Met will be directing the driver to the video and he didn't want debate on his minor infringements muddying the issue for the driver. Fair enough, I didn't realise the driver would be directed there.
However, personally I would have thought it better to disable comments in that situation, or to at the very least set them to be approved. It also would have been nice to have been told why comments were being deleted (by a quick message). That would have kept everyone happy and avoided this whole debate. I will pass these thoughts on to Martin.
Anyway, this is my last post on the matter. If I have time I'll make one more post elsewhere today. I've ran out of energy.
