House Points: Labour running out of steam on transport

My House Points column from today's Liberal Democrat News.br /br /strongHighway jinks/strongbr /br /The malaise that grips this government has reached its bony fingers into every corner of Westminster life. Last Thursday’s transport questions provided a good example.br /br /For a start it was Hamlet without the prince. Or, to be more accurate, the Greek myths without Adonis. The transport secretary is Lord Adonis and he cannot be questioned in the Commons, so MPs were forced to deal with his minions. Increasingly, the senior ministers in this government are unelected and – worse – are not accountable to anyone who has been elected either.br /br /Then there was the content of the answers. There is a consensus between all parties about the threat of global warming. And more thoughtful critics recognise that the car has taken over our towns and cities, forcing everyone of the road and affecting our quality of life.br /br /So you might expect the government to be giving spending on public transport priority over road building.br /br /Not a bit of it.br /br /There were two questions involving transport in the East Midlands. One was about the railway line from Leicester through Coalville and Ashby de la Zouch to Burton upon Trent. People have been talking about returning passenger services to it for more than 20 years. Would the minister discuss the scheme with the local MP?br /br /br /No, said the minister – who, fittingly for someone called Chris Mole, has so far been entirely hidden from public notice. It is “it is primarily a scheme of regional significance” so any funding must come from the region – not that anyone elected that either.br /br /It was a different matter when it came to widening the A14. “The Government are committed to the three-lane widening in order to deliver the improved traffic flows more quickly to the A14 around Kettering,” said the Mole. “The planned improvements are based on the needs of Kettering in terms of growth and development.”br /br /Mr Toad would have approved.br /br /Don’t, incidentally, expect any better from the Tories. Theresa Villiers, their shadow transport secretary, complained of the government: “In their entire term of office they have built less than 20 miles of new motorway.”br /br /If David Cameron tries to hug a husky after that he deserves to get bitten.div class="blogger-post-footer"img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6606798-1579954052409370819?l=liberalengland.blogspot.com'//div

technorati tags:
political news | news | world news
More at: News 2 Cromley