Kate Hawkesby: I stand by my comments on Wilson Parking and elitist Concert FM listeners

Wilson Parking charge astronomically high fees.

COMMENT: The opinion business is a tough game. People get offended.

It is of course also the age of upset - you don't need to do too much to upset people these days.

I don't like upsetting people, but it comes with the territory sometimes.

So here we are on Friday, the end of the week, and I've upset two groups of people: a big corporate, and a pianist at a university in this country.

The big corporate was Wilson Parking - funnily enough they didn't like my tone - or my comments about how astronomically high I think their car park prices are and how unimpressed I am by them.

They wanted to have someone show me how to download their app - luckily it's 2020 and I'm not 107-years-old so I know how to download apps, I just don't want theirs.

They also offered to put credit on it. Luckily for the sake of all of us, I can't be bought either, so I turned down both those generous offers. They didn't like me calling out the chairman of the car parking empire on his corruption charges in Hong Kong back in 2012 - they made the point that he was later cleared of those charges, and that's fair enough.

I'm happy to point that out. It doesn't change my opinion of Wilson Parking though.

The other people I upset were the Concert FM supporters.

They're a passionate crowd aren't they? They didn't like being called elite.

One pianist wrote to me saying she was "personally deeply offended".

She accused me of not appreciating the arts. I have an arts degree actually, but this musician also said I was exhibiting tall poppy syndrome.

I actually hate tall poppy syndrome, I was merely expressing my opinion, and that's the rub.

These days you're taking your life into your hands if you express one.

Many people don't. I'm talking reasonable sane people here... not the keyboard warriors and trolls who just hammer out opinions because they're bored.

Many rational people tell me they never say what they really think on any social media forum because they're fearful of alienating or offending people. It is easier to go with the flow, stick with popular mass opinion, or just say nothing and keep your head down.

I hope we can get to a place where we are more accepting of each other's views and opinions, that people feel more free to express them, and that we don't become so politically correct as a society that we all just spout one same beige inoffensive view.

I didn't want to upset anyone this week, but I can't not be honest– the reality is I don't like Wilson Parking, and I do think Concert FM is elitist. I'm not apologising for it because that's just my opinion.