A couple of days ago I was having a beer with my friend Tommy, and, inevitably, conversation moved on to Gloom and Doom, which must eventually replace the Lion and the Unicorn as national symbols in British heraldry.
Topic in question was the (predictable) demise of HS2, the wonderful hi-tech new railway link to be built connecting London and the North of England. [There are claims that part of the infrastructure development for the North is so that people who are stupid enough to live in those parts can travel more quickly and reliably between, say, Manchester and Leeds; this is completely incorrect - if there is any objective at all, apart from personal glory and wealth for the champions, it is to enable Northerners to travel more efficiently to London, which is really all that matters.]
We drifted smoothly on to the fraught topic of Levelling-Up, which is something loosely associated with a government commitment to Northerners who unexpectedly voted Tory in 2019, to invest in the North and try to drag it at least a little bit out of the 19th Century. I knew I should have put a bet on it, but it seems that we can't afford it after all.
Drat.
Bad break.
Theories about why this could have happened are numerous and of varying quality, but it seems that Geography and Economics may not feature strongly on the syllabus at Eton after all, and private enterprise finds it very hard to say no when public money is mentioned.
Tommy did have one positive thought to add. He reckons that there is a ray of hope; Levelling-Up is still a viable possibilility, though it will now be known as Levelling-Down. It is becoming clear that it is going to be easier and cheaper to trash the South East than try to develop the North. That should be a vote winner, I would guess.
I shall follow this with interest.
Ironical chuckle from this corner of the Interwebthingy!
ReplyDeleteH
Heh heh.
DeleteI feel sorry for all those that were compelled to sell their houses at blighted prices when the routes were initially announced, or were subsequently compulsorily purchased. Mind boggling amounts of public money spunked up the wall…again. More like this septic isle than sceptred isle these days.
ReplyDeleteWhat Tommy and I can't understand is that the "unmanageable cost" of HS2 would have been small change in the scams surrounding Covid. I shan't mention the Track & Trace Disaster specifically, but you know what I'm thinking.
DeleteTommy and I do take some solace from the fact that we are too daft to understand all this stuff.
You don't need to trash the South East, Mr Tory and the Mayor of London are doing a great job on that already!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm aware that they've already scrapped the Police and the water supply. Makes sense - who can make a decent profit on that lot? I hope the Mayor isn't supporting Boris's Great Environmental Initiative for London?
DeleteMy vote goes to moving Parliament to Birmingham
ReplyDeleteNow that sounds like a plan.
DeleteWell as the council are bankrupt (financially) not only would it be cheap, but it would add moral bankruptcy to a centrally located city connected by a high speed train link......I'll get my coat! ☺
DeleteNeil
Win-win? Think of the scope for balancing the books if the lobbying industry is transplanted to the Midlands.
DeleteDo you think the planning committee for HS2 were the ones left over from Brexit? Perhaps rather than furlough them, they got them to do the planning for Covid?
ReplyDeleteIt's an impressive record if it was them......
I'm sure a few of them will be in Surgical Support's honours list - for economic advice supplied.....
Neil
As long as there are no experts on the list; we are sick and tired of experts, as you know. We wish to raise people who sharpened pencils nicely and didn't criticise to the Peerage. I watched Laura Kuensberg's programme on BBC2 last night, and got into trouble for shouting obscenities at Rees Mogg and Ms Dorries. They can't hear you, apparently.
DeleteNeil - shifting the Brexit planners to HS2 might explain why the detailed plan for the project became "IT'S GOING TO BE A BIG RAILWAY - GET IT DONE!".
DeleteI'm glad I didn't have anything in my mouth when I read your first comment!
DeleteI keep trying to explain to my wife that it's much better to vent all that pent up frustration by expressing your robust views at the TV; she doesn't accept my explanation........
Those two would certainly drive you to it!
Neil
Interesting to see somethings are the same no matter what the country!
ReplyDeleteIf only everyone was as smart as us!
DeleteMany a true word spoken in the comments, each day my world becomes smaller as I retreat into my village life and try not to think too much of the stupidity that surrounds us.
ReplyDeleteI changed the habits of maybe 20 years about 18 months ago - previously I used to wake up to BBC Radio 4. Decided it was doing my head in, so just wake up to classical music now. I used to be convinced that, since it was impossible for everybody to be crazy, it had to be me. Not so sure now.
DeleteGloom and Doom indeed... but I don't think trashing the SE is the answer. Unfortunately I don't know what the answer is and I don't know anyone who does. Do you?
ReplyDeleteI would certainly have done things differently to pretty much every government I've seen but whether it would've worked out any better, who knows. Luckily we'll never find out as no-one would ever vote for me.
I would vote for you Rob.
DeleteWhatever the answer is in Westminster, I don't think it involves the wholesale sacking or marginalising the Civil Service people who actually know what they are talking about. This crazy idea that government is a job for conceited gentlemen amateurs, who must not be hamstrung by actual facts or experience, defies belief.
What can you say. It's just another sign that we're now a banana republic, with the benefit of growing our own bloody bananas.
ReplyDeleteI honestly think the 'plan' now is to slash and burn as much as possible of the national infrastructure, sell off as much as possible to friends at knock down prices leaving whoever comes in to replace them (well Labour, for such is FPTP) a mountain to climb. Scorched earth tactics that Kutusov would have been proud of.
Another vote here for shouting at the telly.
Since the plan changes every few days, I find it hard to keep up. Whatever will keep the Republicans - sorry, Tories - in power for ever, that's the plan. But don't blink.
DeleteTommy sounds like a "glass half full" pragmatist to me!
ReplyDeleteAnother plus was the discovery that we used to have so much untouched ancient woodland in our countryside. People had a last chance to inspect it before the rail companies (re) moved it all.
If you check with your MP, he may be able to fix you up with a load of very cheap logs. There were a lot of sleepers too, but we sold them for raised flower beds.
Delete