This high speed rail farce is getting out of hand. Call me Dave is going to commission a report apparently to see about extending it over the border to Scotland. This obviously has nothing to do with the upcoming independence referendum in Scotland and the 'secret' report that explained how HS2 would cost Scotland hundreds of millions in lost revenue if it stopped at Birmingham or Manchester.
Scotland will contribute £4Bn in taxes towards the present HS2 plans although the costs will probably double as usual. It won't reach Manchester until 2033 so will reach Scotland by about 2050. By which time we will all be using jetpacks to travel around and won't need trains.
Scotland contributed hundreds of millions towards HS1 and the eurostar to France and will now contribute billions towards HS2 while we struggle with ancient old trains on ancient old tracks. Like the London Olympics, Scotland will be contributing billions towards something that will actually have a negative effect on our economy. 'Better Together' sticking with the Union ? Buttoned up the back more like.
Meanwhile the new Scotch Secretary Alistair Carmichael " accused SNP transport minister Keith Brown of pitiful behaviour after he questioned the UK government’s commitment to extending HS2 to Scotland. However, Mr Carmichael refused to make any commitment to extending the proposed high-speed rail line across the Border"
Do you see what he did there ?
This is the same drone who wanted his present Scotch Sekratry job scrapped until his Limp Dem party sneaked into power on the back of dumping all of their principles for some comfy seats in the Tory limousines.
Like HS1, they will have to build some kind of HS2. The latest 'vote' in the House of Chancers was all theatre. It's already been signed and agreed behind closed doors with our dear leaders in Brussels so it will go ahead. It's all part of the Trans European Network.
Choo choo.....
It was good of them to make a bear the Secretary for Scotch.
ReplyDeleteHe'll probably be the best Cabinet Secretary the English government has.
Who's the hideous fat bloke with him?
A tube. oops wrong blog.
DeleteHS2 just confirms that one can elect any colour to rule at Westminster as the agenda is set elsewhere, no not the EU Monty but within the confines of the City. GB announced this program in his dying days as PM without any discussion but out of the blue to give us the impression that his government hadn't lost its way. Hey presto the next bunch get in and HS2 is moved up a gear rather than scrapped as being totally nonsensical and only puts more taxpayers money into the 1%.
ReplyDeletehi tris...ha ha I'm not sure who that big bloke is...looks like he'd suit an ermine robe though.
ReplyDeletehi cynical...aye it's weird that folk think voting Lib / Lab or Con actually makes any difference. You couldn't get a cigarette paper between them policywise.
ReplyDeleteAs regards the high speed rail project, it's an EU scheme going back to 1993....
"The hidden story behind this project goes back to 1993, when Jacques Delors was busy with two gargantuan schemes for the integration of Europe. One was to give it a single currency. The other, just as ambitious, was his plan for Trans-European Networks (TENs), designed to integrate all Europe’s transport and communications systems. These would not be funded directly by the EU; instead, the member states would construct their own bits according to an overall plan. Part of the grand design was a Europe-wide network of high-speed trains"