No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at 
Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the 
electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide 
travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to 
take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to 
negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went. 
Poignant. Heartbreaking.

From the Guardian Diary, Hugh Muir, 
www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/08/1

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:48:48 +0100
"Recliner"  wrote:
>No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at 
>Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the 
>electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide 
>travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to 
>take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to 
>negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went. 
>Poignant. Heartbreaking.

Figures. Not only does he not drive but he apparently doesn't even use the 
tube or train either. What a perfect choice he was as transport minister.

Presumably to become the chancellor he had to show he had no concept of
what money is or how to balance books properly... 

oh , wait...

B2003

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:23:40 +0000 (UTC), boltar2003@yahoo.co.uk wrote:

>On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:48:48 +0100
>"Recliner"  wrote:
>>No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at 
>>Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the 
>>electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide 
>>travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to 
>>take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to 
>>negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went. 
>>Poignant. Heartbreaking.
>
>Figures. Not only does he not drive but he apparently doesn't even use the 
>tube or train either. What a perfect choice he was as transport minister.

I didn't know Darling couldn't / doesn't drive. I think that is true of
Gordon Brown.

I'd like to say I'm surprised that he couldn't work a ticket gate but I
can't.  I wonder if he can use a bus?

If you want transport to be out of the headlines then Alastair Darling
was the absolutely ideal candidate - he did exactly what Blair wanted in
making it utterly uncontroversial and invisible as an issue.
-- 
Paul C

wrote in message news:hakp4s$l2k$1@aioe.org
> On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 13:48:48 +0100
> "Recliner"  wrote:
>> No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at
>> Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the
>> electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An
>> aide travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was
>> seen to take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users
>> manage to negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then
>> off they went. Poignant. Heartbreaking.
>
> Figures. Not only does he not drive but he apparently doesn't even
> use the tube or train either. What a perfect choice he was as
> transport minister.

He does drive, though as a minister, probably has few opportunities to 
do so. Ditto with the Tube -- the back seat of his ministerial Jag would 
be his normal mode of transport in London.

On Thu, 8 Oct 2009 15:02:04 +0100
"Recliner"  wrote:
>He does drive, though as a minister, probably has few opportunities to 

Well, doesn't or can't, either way, a man who gets chauffeured everywhere
probably with a police escort to cut through awkward queues has no idea of 
what commuting is like for the majority of the public.

For all his faults , at least Ken Livingstone used the tube and bus on a 
regular basis and eventually passed his driving test. Mind you, transport
was about the only thing he got right.

B2003

Recliner wrote:
> No sadder sight than yesterday when Alistair Darling was sighted at
> Westminster tube station, trying and failing to get through the
> electronic gates, seemingly befuddled by his Oyster smartcard. An aide
> travelling with the chancellor, once a transport secretary, was seen to
> take the card and to show him how the millions of tube users manage to
> negotiate the London Underground network every day. Then off they went.
> Poignant. Heartbreaking.
>
> From the Guardian Diary, Hugh Muir,
> www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2009/oct/08/1


I always said Oyster was a useless, inconvenient white elephant that
didn't work properly.  Nice to see someone in authority finally
discovering that fact for himself.  Now they've seen the light, maybe
we can get the stupid system scrapped once and for all.

Or is that too much to hope for...?

On Sat, 10 Oct 2009 16:30:34 -0700 (PDT), solar penguin
 wrote:

>I always said Oyster was a useless, inconvenient white elephant that
>didn't work properly.

It has many problems, but that is certainly not an accurate
description of it.  It has brought many benefits as well.

Neil
-- 
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.