If the only reason to hate him is because he is standing to be a tory mp... Better to see him in action before labelling him things like shill ... surely?
Fair point & to explain my complaint against him as being a corporate shill, it is due to his campaign for compulsory cycle helmets following being hit by a vehicle while doing the Race Across America.
IIRC he was riding a bike, got hit by a vehicle which didn't stop & he was severely injured. His support team called an ambulance & did 1st aid, the ambulance got him to quickly, took over and rushed him to hospital, on arrival he underwent emergency surgery and subsequently remained for an extended period in intensive care. He made a full recovery bar the brain damage.
Following that incident there are a lot of things you could point to as a reason you survived
- immediate 1st aid from your support team
- rapid response from an ambulance
- close proximity of a hospital and highly trained professionals able to look after you
What you don't do, is say 'my Merida helmet saved my life, therefore everyone should wear a helmet'.
Helmet or not, he would've been dead in a ditch if his team hadn't been there. Dead at the side of road without the ambulance. Dead in the ambulance without the hospital.. etc
But he focused solely* on his sponsored bit of polystyrene as his reason for survival and pocketed a nice little earner out of everyone elses work.
(*did he also say because he was really fit & so had a high blood volume?)