It’s political suicide to ban or tax bikes, and time is required while the tax take on the G-Wiz is calculated vs. vote loss. And of course, politicians lost guts and the ability for original thought years ago.

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And by the way, despite the cavilling, you were right to tick Boris off for saying that the G-Wiz emits negligible CO2, and you are right that green tariffs are a con. The Renewables Obligation means that companies claiming to sell eligible renewables (i.e. anything other than large hydro and Energy-from-Waste) are double-selling greenness that their customers have already paid for.

There may be plenty of reasons to drive a G-Wiz (and several not to) and Boris is right that it should be upto the individual, but the G-Wiz’s minuscule contribution to reducing carbon emissions is not a significant reason. It’s difficult to compare carbon emissions from electric-powered vehicles with those from internal-combustion engines, because of the different and varied fuels used, but by my reckoning, the G-Wiz travels roughly 15% further per kWh of primary fuel than the most efficient diesels on the market running at their quoted combined efficiency. Occupancy levels and distance travelled will be far more significant to emission-levels than the relative notional efficiencies.

Boris’s G-Wiz enthusiasm is like Dave’s rooftop wind-turbine: more symbolic than material. One shouldn’t dismiss the importance of symbolism to a politician, but in these cases the symbolism has positive and negative sides – on the positive side, it shows that they want to put their money where their mouth is, but on the negative side, it shows that they are easily taken in by hype.

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I have, for a number of years, enjoyed your perceptive and witty observations about the various delinquencies of our current Lords and Masters, the ‘New’ Labour Party. Your tirades invariably carry a light touch and avoid the rancour and acerbity of, for example, Jeremy Clarkson’s weekly railing against the status quo. It pains me, therefore, to tell you that enough is enough!

You are, unlike Clarkson, a politician rather than a C grade celebrity with a penchant for fast cars, and have responsibilities of a wider scope than the occasional bit of leg pulling and tilting at the odd metaphorical windmill; your article above being a case in point.

I am not going to argue about the merits of your observations regarding the G-Wiz. No doubt you believe that it reflects the culture of cowardice within the Labour party in standing up to European legislative nonsense; but surely that point has been proved countless times? My irritation stems from the simple fact that, if you are prepared to expand your portfolio of opinions to encompass issues outside your ambit as the Tory spokesman for higher education and express opinion on matters diverse, why have you selected an issue of such consummate trivia as the G-Wiz?

We stand at the precipice of a conflict which promises to plunge our country into a long and un-winnable war ‘against terror’; a war which will divide Britain across racial and religious boundaries and turn the spotlight of distrust onto law-abiding, patriotic citizens whose only ‘error’ has been to follow the teachings of Islam. A war which will erode our already moribund civil liberties to level not incompatible with Soviet Russia in the 60s.

Of equal import is the incontrovertible fact that one of the few remaining legacies of the British empire, a diplomatic corps and foreign office second to none, has been more-or-less traded in for a lecture circuit in the States and perhaps(?) a non-executive directorship in Halliburton Energy Services by that grubby little puppet Blair.

And yet the G-Wiz is top of your mind?

The term British foreign policy has become oxymoronic in the last five years; who wants to talk to the oily rag when one can go directly to the mechanic of mayhem in the White House? This unfortunate state of affairs has only been exacerbated by the simple fact that AIPAC (American Israel Public Affairs Committee) owns the US government and thus US Middle Eastern policy effectively devolves to Israeli policy. The consequence of which is that Britain is indirectly supporting a regime which has almost surpassed the SS and certainly Saddam Hussein in every aspect of oppression and racial violence.

I suppose that having a cheap laugh about the apparent conflict between Labour’s specious policies and their actual activities is tempting for a part time journalist. But the journalist in question (yourself) is also a moderately senior member of a major political party. Thus, in my humble opinion, there is some obligation to use the media organs at your disposal in a more pro-active fashion than, say, having an ineffectual swat at a Government showing all symptoms of imminent demise anyway. This seems to be particularly appropriate when issues of the magnitude I have outlined remain largely unaddressed by any of the preeminent political parties in Britain.

The only conclusion I can draw is that your reluctance to discuss these matters in a public forum must stem from fear. The same fear that ex US President Jimmy Carter talks of in ‘Palestine: Peace not Apartheid’. The same fear that Dr. Norman Finkelstein endures at the hand of the US Israel lobby often in the form of the redoubtable Professor Alan Dershowitz; the fear that begs the question of who is most culpable when a wrong is committed? The person committing the offense or the person who stands by and says nothing.

Mr. Johnson, I can sympathise with fear; it is a debilitating condition that often makes us weak and petty. So, if you are afraid of speaking your mind about the issues I have raised, by all means emulate Clarkson et al and carry on writing about light hearted trivia.

But please stop pretending to be a statesman as well.

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Photosynthesis is carried out by a chemical called chlorophyll which is contained in the cells of plants.

Chlorophyll appears green and is the chemical that gives green plants their colour.

So in order to be able to photosynthisize plants must have at least some green colour on them, as it were.

For further info. I would check out the bbc’s revision pages.

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