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Merrick
Merrick
2148 posts

Steven Norris
Feb 28, 2003, 22:35
Norris was the Roads Minister at the time the DoT approved the Newbury Bypass.

He didn't disagree with the bypass at all. Until it came to the run up to the 1997 election where he'd decided to stand down. Then he publically said that the DoT knw their traffic calculations for Newbury were wrong. On BBC TV, he stod on the route of the Newbury Bypass (then under construction) and said 'the protesters were right, and they were right from the first. There was no need to build this road. We could have left all this countryside intact'.

He admitted to *knowing* he was wrong and still pushing ahead!

After the election, he immediatley got a high-paid low-work position with the Road Haulage Association (a federation of truck transport companies, big campaginers for more roads and less fuel tax).

I met him in 1997 when he was on Sky TV debating the roads issue with a friend. He said something about how people shouldn't be protesting while claiming benefits.

After the show I got to talk to him and pointed out that we were doing what quangos like English Nature should be doing, but we were a lot more effective and a lot cheaper, and given that there were going to be several million people unemployed, it might as well be the ones who do something useful with their time.

He said it was all good points and he broadly agreed. Regarding benefits, he said 'I couldn't care less, but you've got to say this kind of thing when you're on television'.

He's a fucking twat, a road building twat. Whenever you see him on TV, ignore what he says and just chant 'lying road building twat, lying road building twat' till he's finished. Works for me, like.
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