Do Ministers Really Need Ministerial Cars?

Boris Johnson has a very good article in this morning's Telegraph. In it he argues that top politicians and particularly Ministers should leave their Ministerial cars behind and, instead, use public transport or even (perish the thought) walk.

This gives politicians a chance to meet the people they either serve or aspire to serve. Politicians stuck in their ministerial cars means that politicians are more distant from and less engaged with the electorate. As the article suggests, Ministerial cars are all about status. They move politicians very short distances, generally through traffic jams, and, in the process, cost the taxpayer in the region of £20 million a year.

In North Durham, I want to speak to as many citizens as possible between now and the election. That means I'm using local public transport as much as possible and spending as much time as I can walking around the constituency. I think politicians owe it to voters to do all that they can to hear local concerns. National Ministers need to shed unnecessary trappings of power and get closer to the people they represent.