Mountain Criticism
Posted on 30 June 2008
I’m fortunate in being represented in Parliament by Adam Price, who not only is pincipled and articulate, but also has a well developed sense of humour and irony. He certainly needs it when dealing with some of the blinkered crazyness which passes for policy in Westminster.
The piece below appeared in the Times Online yesterday.
Taken for a ride over Olympic mountain biking in Essex
Ever wondered why the 2012 Olympics is costing so much? A clue was revealed in the Commons last week when MP Adam Price wondered why the mountain bike event was being held in Essex.
Essex is a grand county with many great qualities, but you can’t help noticing what is almost its defining characteristic – the complete lack of mountains.
Olympic officials have already complained that the area is too flat, so a special course will have to be built.
“Why is public money being used to create a new track in Essex which lacks one of the key essential requirements for mountain biking – mountains?” demanded Price, the Plaid Cymru MP for Carmarthen East. “There are international standard cross-country mountain bike tracks in Wales, Scotland and the north and the west,” he said.
Sports minister Gerry Sutcliffe replied limply: “I understand there are a few hills in Essex.”
At the last count the Olympic budget was £9.3 billion, but at least the small bore shooting event shouldn’t prove too expensive. Westminster would seem the obvious location.
See also UCI reject Essex’s Olympic mountain bike venue
A biker descending from an Essex Mountain?
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