Matthew Parris

[Fab Foodie]

There have been quite a few incidents like this since he wrote his article.

IIRC, there were many similar incidents long before the idiotic Matthew Parris put quill to parchment, even when I was a kid and that's a long time ago. It's ghastly, but nothing new.

 

[Crankarm]

One would have thought he would have realised after one such "remark" but no the cretin has made several which makes me think he is trying to incite people of low intelligence or vindictive b*****ds to do this in which case .......... he is inciting people to commit GBH or even murder. Parris should be arrested and charged. People have been arrested and charged for a lot less. He tries to give the impression he is a sensitive intellectual, but in reality he is a nasty odious creature. Only kidding, not.

 

[mangaman]

IIRC, there were many similar incidents long before the idiotic Matthew Parris put quill to parchment, even when I was a kid and that's a long time ago. It's ghastly, but nothing new.

I agree FF - I just have a horrible feeling Parris lives in his stupid pampered world and is unaware of these events.

I was considering sending him a detailed list of each one - ccing into the e-mails the cyclists and their families whenever they occur.

From his apology he thought it was funny, which makes him a very sick or uninformed individual. I suspect he's both - which is par for the course for an MP turned Times "comment writer" (ie polyfiller).

We can't improve his sense of humour if he finds hilarity in dead and lynched cyclists, but we could keep him informed of the facts of which he appears to know nothing.

 

[snorri]

By giving further publicity to this type of incident and detailing the methodology, we could be sowing seeds in the minds of other ill intentioned people, the less said the better.

 

[mangaman]

By giving further publicity to this type of incident and detailing the methodology, we could be sowing seeds in the minds of other ill intentioned people, the less said the better.

True - I'm just advocating bombarding Matthew Parris with updates on the outcome of his comment every time it occurs.

I agree we shouldn't be talking about stringing piano wire across cycle paths, as the hooligans of the world may not have thought of that - however that'sexactly what Parris has done and for which he will not be forgotten I suspect

 

[ufkacbln]

There was a fatality in 2008

It was a youth on a trail bike but the potential is the same each time this happens.

Head injuries as they fall off, other injuries etc?

 

[Hip Priest]

In Parris's defence, he was actually complaining about the poor behaviour of some cyclists on shared paths. Dumb hyperbolic violent fantasies aside, he actually had a point.

 

[Fab Foodie]

In Parris's defence, he was actually complaining about the poor behaviour of some cyclists on shared paths. Dumb hyperbolic violent fantasies aside, he actually had a point.

Parris has no defence in this case.

 

[Hip Priest]

Parris has no defence in this case.

You don't think the behaviour of some cyclists on shared paths is poor and often dangerous?

 

[MissTillyFlop]

I think that he has a point on the behaviour of some cyclists on shared footpaths.

However, advocating violence even in a tongue-in-cheek way is unacceptable in a national publication, as there is no guarrantee that the reader will not take this seriously and that it won't put the idea of actually implementing this into their otherwise vacant minds.

When you're writing for the Daily Mail, it should be assumed that at least 87% of the audience have never heard of a "joke" and everything should be printed in a simple and straightforward manner, with plenty of pictures, in the largest font possible.

 

[dawesome]

Parris's article wasn't about shared use, it was about the rubbish in hedgerows he claimed came from cyclists.

 

[Fab Foodie]

You don't think the behaviour of some cyclists on shared paths is poor and often dangerous?

That's hardly the point, suggesting stringing piano-wire across paths is indefensible. For doing it in a national newspaper he should be fired and prosecuted.

 

[Hip Priest]

Parris's article wasn't about shared use, it was about the rubbish in hedgerows he claimed came from cyclists.

Ah, well I stand corrected.

Can't be worse than what his sort get up to in hedgerows eh? Eh? JUST A JOKE MATTHEW. LIKE ON TOP GEAR. HAHAHA.

 

[ufkacbln]

I had (and still have) a simple question which was not answered....

If it is OK to attempt to garotte a cyclist for the crime of cycling on a pavement, what level of injury is acceptable to inflict on the driver of a vehicle on the pavement?

Edited.... This post appears to come across as condoning violence, it does not, it is a hypothetical question putting a perspective on the event - see later posts

 

[Boris Bajic]

I had (and still have) a simple question which was not answered....

If it is OK to attempt to garotte a cyclist for the crime of cycling on a pavement, what level of injury is acceptable to inflict on the driver of a vehicle on the pavement?

It's not OK to garotte a cyclist, nor is it OK to inflict corporal punishment on a driver for dangerous or selfish parking.

M Parris was a colossal fool to write as he did and it was very wrong. I used to read him in the Times and found him clever and funny. I still often listen to him on Radio 4. He is a witty and perceptive commentator on parliament and other topics. He is prone to grotesque and inexcuasable lapses in judgement; the cycling story is one such. It was poor judgement and the paper was a fool to print it in that form.

Nonetheless, it was quite a few years ago and it seems quite a long time to hold a grudge.