HS2 Manchester Route Not Sold Off Yet As Labour Weighs Up Rail Options
The title of this post, is the same as that of this article on i.
This is the sub-heading.
The Government has a looming dilemma with climbing costs and pressure from supporters to bring back the Birmingham to Manchester line
These first three paragraphs explain the problems.
Labour faces a £500m decision on what to do with HS2 land which was not sold despite promises by Rishi Sunak, as Sir Keir Starmer braces for new calls to resurrect the cancelled Birmingham to Manchester line.
The £50bn rail line is likely to cause the new Labour government a headache as supporters push for the party to support the project which was initially launched by former Prime Minister Gordon Brown in 2009.
Within Whitehall, civil servants are currently thought to be calculating the value for money of Mr Sunak’s HS2 plan in comparison to the previous HS2 plan to Manchester, with the result expected to favour the longer route.
These are my thoughts.
The Appointment Of Lord Peter Hendy As Rail Minister
Two of the more unusual ministerial appointments by Sir Keir Starmer were the appointment of James Timpson as Minister of State for Prisons, Parole and Probatio, and Lord Peter Hendy as Minister of State in the Department of Transport.
But if you read their Wikipedia entries, they both have great knowledge of the area to where they have been appointed.
This picking of Ministers outside of elected MPs has happened before, with the most recent being Rishi Sunak’s appointment of David Cameron as Foreign Secretary.
This is a paragraph from the article in the i, gives some views about Lord Hendy and High Speed Two.
The appointment of Lord Peter Hendy as rail minister has been received positively by many supporters of the high speed rail line, given his previous work around the project and Euston’s redevelopment, where he pushed for a more ambitious project. One industry source told i that Lord Hendy was “one of the most respected figures in the UK rail industry”, and a “definite supporter of HS2 to Manchester”.
As the current Chairman of Network Rail, I suspect Lord Hendy has had endless thoughts on how he can get High Speed Two to Manchester, within an acceptable budget.
I also believe that since being appointed to be Chairman of Network Rail, the performance of that company has improved.
Has Lord Hendy improved the quality of the workforce or imposed better top down project management?
The Euston Station Problem
The article in the i has several paragraphs on the Euston station problem.
Lord Hendy has probably, the best directory of contacts of property developers, architects and engineers in the UK and with his background of economics, he probably know how to sort the wheat from the dross.
So could Lord Hendy somehow conjure a solution for Euston station out of the speculation?
I wonder if he could find someone to develop a multi-billion commercial complex over the station, that this could generate the cash to pay for Birmingham and Manchester section of High Speed Two.
Like Baldrick, I suspect Lord Hendy could have a cunning plan, but based on sound economic sense.
For instance, I believe, that the best way to serve Leeds by High Speed Two could be via Manchester.
- Leeds would have a choice of routes from London; King’s Cross and Euston.
- It could possibly have three, if St. Pancras and Leeds via Derby and Sheffield were to be improved.
- Birmingham and Leeds services would be greatly improved if High Speed Two to Leeds, went via Manchester.
I would suspect every idea will be on the table.
Action This Day!
This was Churchill’s famous phrase and you can read all about it here.
I am getting sick of the indecision of Brexit and I suspect many in this country feel the same.
As I’m retired, it doesn’t make any difference to my business and those that I employ, as there is no business and no employees.
To my mind, Brexit must be sorted by the end of January at the latest, so that we can all move on.
- If we vote in Boris Johnson with a large majority, we might leave, although I suspect there will be challenges in Parliament, the Courts and on the streets.
- If we vote in Jo Swinson with a large majority, she will revoke article 50 and that could be the end of Brexit for at least a few years and hopefully for ever.
- If we vote in Jeremy Corbyn with a large majority, he will dither and prevaricate for a few years years, before we get another close referendum, which gives us more of what we’ve had for the last few years.
As someone, who voted Remain and now quite frankly doesn’t care, I believe the only way to get us out of this mess made by David Cameron, is to hope that Johnson or Swinson get a majority large enough to carry out their stated policies on Brexit.
As for Corbyn, who has a Push-Me-Pull-You policy on Brexit, everybody should make sure, that whoever they vote for, consigns Corbyn, his apparatchiks and their crack-pot policies to the dustbin of history.
Brexit Was An Easy Sell
How many times, have you heard a smooth salesman give you a line of patter to try to sell you something?
In some cases, they have presented you with say a car, bicycle or washing machine, which is all you need with a feasible story.
So you have bought it, because you couldn’t see any risk and it did what you need.
In most cases you haven’t regretted the purchase as it was a well-made good product.
If you asked a good salesman to sell Brexit, he could come up with all sorts of positive reasons, why you should vote for it.
On the other hand, a good salesman selling Remain, would have only given you negatives and doom and gloom.
When did anybody sell you anything, based on its negative qualities?
In my view, David Cameron’s referendum was skewed in favour of Brexit, as selling a negative to millions of people is not a feasible proposition.
Will We Vote For Cameron’s Deal On Europe?
I don’t know the answer and there are probably only a couple of people who can predict the result with any certainty.
I’ve just looked at the reliable Odds Checker web site for their Brexit Referendum Betting Odds and as I write this post, it is 5/2 On to stay in and 5/2 that we’ll leave.
If I vote and I probably will, as the first time I voted was for the EU Referendum of 1975, it will probably be to stay in, as I am a committed European in habit and probably culture.
I also think that we should be in a reformed Schengen Area and that we need a more flexible payment system.
Schengen is an ideal, but in the modern world of terrorism, international crime and immigration pressures, it falls down a deep hole.
What could replace it, I know not, but surely we can find something, that is better than what we have now.
Flexible payments will happen, as cash is replaced by contactless payments on cards and mobile phones.
How long will it be until I look at my credit card statement and see real -time transactions in pounds despite spending them all over the world in euros, dollars and Ruritanian groats?
We will be moving inexorably towards a World electronic currency, that appears to everybody as the one they want to use.
Let’s face it, it’s only software.
The currency merging will be led by the Anglo-Saxon English-speaking triumvirate; the US/Canada, the UK and Hong Kong/Singapore.
The Eurozone will be unable to keep the Euro out of this juggernaut.
Europe’s biggest problem is migration and despite what you read in the Mail and the Express, because of our island status, we are isolated from the worst excesses of uncontrolled migration into the European Union.
I think it will have further effects after it destroys Schengen in its present form.
There are elections in a lot of European states soon!
Will we see fruit-cake parties campaigning against more migration and for a renegotiating of their relationship with the European Union, as David Cameron has just done?
You bet we will!
David Cameron has truly opened Pandora’s Box!
Has Cameron’s Honesty Settled The Election?
For a few years now, I’ve believed that whoever wins the election in a few weeks, will have a good chance of winning again in 2020. In Is George Osborne A Closet Trainspotter, I detailed all of the big rail projects finishing in the later years of this decade and said this.
Whoever wins the election in 2015, will be the biggest beneficiary of all this planned spending, as many projects like Crossrail, Thameslink and the Great Western Main Line, will be fully implemented just before the 2020 General election.
Cameron’s obvious desire to step down at the end of a second term, if he wins the election and lead a normal life, will give his successor a good hand for the 2020 Election.
His honesty has certainly put him in a totally different box to all of his rivals.
It may not win the Tories the election, but his decision probably will help many voters make up their minds.
Perhaps he also remembers that the last Prime Minister with a reasonable popularity level and a very supportive family, forced to call an election, won the resulting contest!
An Appalling Death Cult
Not my words, but those of David Cameron in this report on the BBC. These are the full words he used.
We all have a role to play in stopping people from having their minds poisoned by this appalling death cult.
I agree entirely.
If Islamic State was something like the movement started by Jim Jones, that ended so tragically in Guyana, we might have taken action earlier.
They say there’s one born every minute and religion certainly takes advantage.
What I find strange about religion, is that it often fleeces the poor of their money and sanity, but although the rich may leave their money to their church, temple or mosque, they generally don’t get fleeced in their lifetime.
Are Politicians Stupid?
This report on the BBC web site, shows how the three major party leaders were photographed with a special World Cup promotion edition of The Sun.
The Sun is noted for various things, but faithful support for politicians isn’t probably one of them.
So why did the npoliticians ever let the photos be published?
Clegg and Cameron’s supporters didn’t seem to mind too much, but Labour Party supporters and especially those from Liverpool, are giving Milliband a hard time.
An Inadvertent Inuendo
Caitlin Moran in The Times on Friday does her Celebrity Watch, which I generally read, as it lets me find out who the inconsequential idiots, like Justin Bieber, that constantly pollute news bulletins, actually are.
Today, she marks David Cameron down, because of an interview about his musical taste. She reveals that despite his profile, he still manages to sneak into gigs, like that of Swedish act; First Aid Kit at the O2 Shepherds Bush.
Caitlin has now got the phrase. “Cameron’s back entrance to the Bush” stuck in her mind.
Are Things Getting Better?
There has been a lot of discussion about whether things are getting better, with the government that things are on the up and Milliband saying they’re not. This article gives both views, with David Cameron being quoted in this way.
Most British workers have seen their take-home pay rise in real terms in the past year, the government claims.
It has produced figures showing all except the richest 10% saw their take-home wages rise by at least 2.5% once tax cuts were taken into account.
The article says this about Ed Milliband.
Labour leader Ed Miliband said the figures were “dodgy” and ministers were out of touch with people’s lives.
I’m not going to take sides, but as I travel around the country, I see many things.
If I look at my situation, I think it has got marginally better compared to what it was twelve months ago.
I’m getting a slightly higher rate on my savings in Zopa, my energy is slightly cheaper since I moved my energy supplier to Ovo and running my household seems to be cheaper, as I’ve organised myself better. The latter is not down to the economy, but partly due to individuals and companies, launching new products and services.
One thing that hasn’t hit me, is the cost of motoring! Because I don’t!
I’ve just had February’s edition of Modern Railways and as in the last few months, there are quite a few articles about new stations and lines. There’s also been a few examples of new and refurbished trains being built or modified in the UK. But go to places like Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester and the transport infrastructure is much better than it was three or four years ago. Other places like Blackburn have got new stations. And there are quite a few new British-built buses too.
If the experience of the introduction into North London of the Overground, is anything to go by, where people have told me it has allowed them to get to new or better jobs, this new transport infrastructure can only be a good thing.
But if I go to places outside of London, it all seems much better. Surprisingly, there are quite a few bright, new shopping centres.
But then some politicians don’t want to be positive!
I’m Going To Follow David Cameron
On Wednesday, I seemed to get a bruise on my left wrist.
My Bruised Left Wrist
So I think, I’m going to follow David Cameron’s example and not where a watch. but then Sam Cameron doesn’t either and neither did my late wife.
The Anonymous Widower 