Boris Johnson in The Daily Telegraph 10th May 2007
I mean come off it. Are we men or mice in this country? I have just overtaken two girls in the cleanest, greenest, sweetest four-wheeled self-propelled invention to hit the London streets since the first horseless carriage arrived at the end of the 19th century.
This machine is so simple and yet so revolutionary that it restores one's faith in scientific progress. Not since the windmills sprouted on the roofs of Notting Hill has there been a gizmo so deliriously trendy and yet so gentle to the upper air.
I am talking about the G-Wiz electric car. In case you have yet to spot one of these mobile rabbit hutches, they are manufactured in India out of plastic and rubber bands, and since they are powered by a battery they emit no more CO2 than a small dandelion. They are at once as green, and as hopeful for the future of capitalism, as a dollar bill.
You simply recharge them overnight like a mobile phone, and then you can pootle around town with the blissful satisfaction that you are not only saving money - at 1.3p per mile, the G-Wiz's efficiency is only exceeded by the bicycle.
You are saving time, since you can park almost anywhere you like. You can stick its little rump at right-angles to the kerb, and because it is electric you don't even have to pay to put it on a meter, and indeed you can hug yourself as you watch the traffic wardens sniffing around the car like baffled hyenas.
Above all, my friends, if you drive a G-Wiz you are saving the planet. It is a joyful contraption; it costs less than £7,000; it is eco-friendly, and gaining rapidly in popularity; and how, therefore, do you think it is viewed by the emanations of the British state?
They want to ban it, of course. No, wait. It's even wetter than that. They want Brussels to ban it for them! Some brainbox at the Department of Transport has spotted one of the 750 G-Wiz machines now on the streets of London, and has sucked his teeth. Hmm, he has said to himself. That looks too good to be true. [GG Editor's note: they do not want to ban the G-Wiz!]
So they have done some tests, and "proved" that the G-Wiz would not be safe in a violent collision with an Eddie Stobart pantechnicon. How about that, eh? Unsafe? Of course it's unsafe. You don't have to use a test-crash dummy to see that. Just look at the thing.
To call it a golf cart would be an insult to the relatively cheetah-like qualities of the average golf cart. It has less grunt than a Flymo. It's a Fisher-Price toy of a car, a glorified Airfix model, and that is why it is so light, and that is why it can be driven by a battery at a roistering top speed of 42mph, and that is why it is no more noxious to the atmosphere than a baby's breath.
As I have lately discovered in my capacity as ace test-driver for GQ magazine, it is a wonderful machine, and it is almost as if the Government cannot bear the populace to have their hands on anything so wonderful and cheap and simple.
Transport minister Stephen Ladyman yesterday denounced the G-Wiz, and said it was not in conformity with EU regulations. This is not a car at all, he said. It must be reclassified as a quadricycle, and he wants Brussels to kick it off our streets. [GG Editor's note: it is classified as a quadricycle and not a car, yet tested as a car, hence the media mis-reporting]
Well, folks, how pathetic is that? It's as though we have got into some weird S & M relationship with the EU, in which ministers go around asking for correction. After years of ritual humiliation at the hands of Madame de Bruxelles, the fabled dominatrix, the man in Whitehall has become addicted to discipline.
Oooh, yes, they say. Tell us we've been naughty. Tell us we were wrong to let it on our streets. Tell us we should have classified it as a quadricycle! Madame de Bruxelles will obligingly crack her whip, and what is the result? The EU's vehicle homologation committee will meet. It will decide that, if the G-Wiz is to be classified as a car, it will need to undergo complete rigidification of the chassis. It will be fitted with airbags and side impact protection systems, and special pedestrian-friendly bumpers, and at the end of this horrifying surgical procedure - a kind of reverse liposuction - it will have doubled in weight, just as every other car on the roads is now far heavier than they were 10 years ago.
And these absurd and pointless safety measures will in turn generate two absurdities. The new obese G-Wiz would still be crushed like a beer can on collision with a cement mixer, and yet it will be so laden with safety equipment that it will be far more dangerous, on impact, to pedestrians.
Worse still, of course, it will be far harder and more expensive - and much less green - to make it move by battery alone. In fact, the whole concept will be more or less wrecked. That is why Mr Ladyman - Girly-man, more like! - should stop this drivelling appeal to Brussels to ban a brilliant invention.
He should listen to Oliver Letwin's excellent speech on Tuesday, in which he explained the Tory view of the relation between the citizen and the state. It is not just about taxing less, and running the economy efficiently - vital though those goals are. It's about seeing the catastrophic fiscal impact of having a bossy, regulatory approach, by which new laws and new interdictions endlessly necessitate the creation of new taxpayer-funded officials to enforce those laws.
It's therefore about treating people like grown-ups, and letting them take their own risks, without endlessly and expensively substituting the judgment and protection of the state. You have only to take one look at the plucky little G-Wiz to see that is no less (and no more) dangerous than a bicycle. We don't need the Department of Transport to tell us that, and we certainly don't need Brussels.
The customer can see that it is vulnerable; but he also knows that the G-Wiz fleet has travelled 20 million miles without a bad accident and with negligible CO2. Let him weigh it up himself.

ANGELA MOUNT’S £10 MILLION TASTE BUDS TEAM UP WITH AWARD WINNING FAIRTRADE COFFEE

Angela Mount, one of the best known and respected experts in the Wine industry has joined forces with Percol, the pioneering brand of award-winning ethical ground and instant coffee. Angela has chosen to work with the high quality brand as she moves her wine expertise into the coffee industry.

Angela Mount, whose taste buds were famously insured for £10 million, is at the forefront of wine development and is known best for her tasting skills and ability to find just the right product for her customers. In addition to wine, Angela is also an experienced public speaker, and regularly appears on radio in the UK, including Radio 4 The Food Programme, Woman’s Hour, Radio London, and BBC local radio. She presents to a wide range of audiences, including hosting the main celebrity chef theatre at the BBC Good Food Show, working alongside celebrity chefs such as Gordon Ramsay, Gary Rhodes, and Anthony Worrall- Thompson.

As coffee drinker’s palates become more sophisticated, Angela Mount will lead the way recognising the links between wine and coffee. She has joined forces with Percol to exploit these links and grow the industry to position coffee as the new wine.

Angela Mount, comments: “I am very excited about my plans with Percol, the quality and taste of their coffee makes it stand out from any competitor. With its fine aromas and flavours, I believe that consumers can start to view coffee in a similar way to wine, exploring different styles, flavours and usage occasions’.

Percol has won a total of 22 awards for quality and taste, more than any other coffee. In 2006 its Fairtrade Organic Guatemala ground coffee won Gold at the Great Taste Awards and at the Soil Association’s Organic Food Awards 2006 Percol’s Americano ground coffee won Bronze. Percol was the first company to launch single origin Fairtrade coffee and in 2002 became the first to introduce coffee sourced solely from Nicaragua, which won Gold at the Great taste awards in 2005.

Percol’s range of coffees capture the ‘terroir’ of the country from which they originate – the situation of soil, climate and plant variety which the French use in ‘wine-making’. During 2006 the brand had a packaging makeover introducing its instantly recognisable “adventures in coffee” theme. Percol coffee is sourced from a wide range of countries in Latin America including Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico, Colombia and Honduras and featured on-pack is a description of country, climatic, cultural information and tasting notes.

Percol is run by owner and Founder Brian Chapman, who says; “We are very lucky to have Angela on board with our new initiatives and I am delighted that she will be converting her expertise in the wine industry to help us make the most of our coffee. I’ve always held a firm belief that coffee was more than just another beverage you kept in the cupboard. We are passionate about our coffees and are keen to ensure that consumers are being transported through their senses to the very heart of the beautiful countries where our coffees are grown. Coffee farms are as intriguing and individual as vineyards. There are many similarities between fine wine and quality coffee so we have also included tasting notes about the different flavours - many of which are borne from the types of surroundings they originate from.”

DESIRE AND FEMINITY
NEW COLLECTION PUTS FEET SIZED 8 AND OVER ON - TREND

New for Summer 2007 Henny James launch their inspired range of highly fashionable shoes for women with feet sized eight and over. The range launches 25th April 2007 with twelve distinctive delicate styles, each unique, pretty and desirable, with styles being added on a monthly basis keeping up with trends.

One in ten women in the UK now have feet sized eight or over. Of these, 90% say that they cannot find shoes to fit them which are attractive and stylish. The trend is only set to increase with women’s sizes increasing generally. Celebrity feet sized eight and over are extremely common with Kate Winslet (UK 9), Paris Hilton (UK 9), Jerry Hall (UK 9), Angelina Jolie (UK 8), Liv Tyler (UK 8) just a few amongst thousands of A – list celebrities and trend-setters.

Jamie O’Mally, Creative Director, Henny James said: “Our ready-to-wear collection is all about making women feel confident. It is about restoring the femininity and offering choices in style, cut and cloth. Our shoes are stylish, affordable and above all else fashionable.

Jamie O’Mally continues; “Our range has been specially designed for larger feet using lines to accentuate femininity and breed confidence in the wearer. We know that there is a huge market for quality shoes in larger sizes and that this market is rapidly increasing in size. Our job will be to ensure that we create shoes that give high quality fashionable choices to women.”

The ready to wear collection is available nationwide at hennyjames.com. The stylish and on-trend shoes are made from European sourced leather from designs created in the UK.