Today’s a day full of sunshine and the promise of decent photographic weather. I’ve a dinner date with my in-laws this evening near Huddersfield so I’m going to take the long way there, taking the camera with me to have a look at progress on the Trans-Pennine Route upgrade to see if there’s anything worth getting shots of. I’ll blog through the day, so feel free to pop back and see what I get up to…
12:00.
I’ve made it as far as Dewsbury having arrived here from Sowerby Bridge. Trains are packed today. My three-car was full and standing from Sowerby and rammed after Mirfield. The good weather’s bringing everyone out – including the rail-alers doing the railway pub-crawl. This isn’t the best day for exploring as the Trans-Pennine route West of Huddersfield is closed so services are much reduced. Even ao, there’s a few pictures to be had and sites to note.
My train departs from Dewsbury.
15:15.
Sorry for the gap but I’ve been busy shuttling between Dewsbury and Brighouse whilst enjoying the gorgeous sunshine – and dodging torrential showers! I’d intened to get a few lineside shots but the combination of low sun and rain made that foohardy, which is a shame – but hey ho. Instead I took the opportunity to enjoy Brighouse station joining the TPE network. Right now I’m on my way to Huddersfield, having stopped the latest weather bullet in the shape of this storm that’s just passed over Dewsbury. I didn’t make it to the cover of the canopy before the heavens opened.
Here’s 802213 working 9M32, the 1244 Newcastle to Liverpool Lime Street.
At Brighouse – which joined the TPE network for the day – I captured 802209 stopping at the station whilst working 1P25, the 1154 Liverpool Lime Street to Newcastle.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Up at sparrow-fart once more. It’s a busy morning here at Bigland Towers. I’m preparing to head out for the day and Dawn is busy with her HIT (High Intensity Training) workout in the living room. The weather’s hardly conducive to early starts. It’s dark and cold outside now that temperatures have returned to their seasonal averages rather then the bizarre ones we’ve had recently. According to the thermometer it’s just 3 degrees.
I’ll be walking down to Sowerby Bridge station shortly to catch my first train of the day to Manchester. I’m planning another foray out to Glossop and area. I’ll be blogging throughout the day, so let’s see what happens…
07:35.
Walking downhill to the station was fun this morning. Looking across the valley from the bedroom window it looked everywhereas covered in fog. Once I’d left the house and descended ahundred meters or so the valley was clear. Then, when I looked behind me I realise our cottage was up in cloud level!
I’m now on the late- running 07:22 to Manchester which is a busy four-car set.
07:50.
We’ve now left Todmorden and this train’s getting very busy. As we traversed the Calder valley I realised Sowerby Bridge is lucky as everywhere else IS covered in fog! Today’s the first day of autumn where I’ve observed commuters wearing hats and gloves. Shorts are confined to the back of the cupboard for now. Judging by the number of people clutching hot drinks the local coffee shops will be happy with the change in the weather!
07:55.
We’ve passed through the Summit tunnel into Lancashire and – as is often the case – there’s very different weather on the other side. Rochdale has no fog at all. Instead it’s bathed in winter sunshine!
08:38.
Here’s how busy my train was as it approached Manchester Victoria – and what it was like trying to get through the gateline.
Right now I’m on the train out to Glossop which is much more relaxed as we’re going againt the flow. There’s just a handful of us in the front car. Several of those are young women all using their phones as mirrors as they apply their make-up!
09:25.
The light’s lovely this morning so I stopped off in the middle of nowhere to get a few pictures. Let’s have a guessing game with the station name. It carries the same name a former member of the band “10cc”.
Not a rubber bullet in sight…
10:20.
I’m having a quick break here in Glossop whilst I have a coffee in the lovely little Twig coffee house on the station – and respond to a couple of work emails to sort out next week’s jobs.
The old ticket office (the window is to the right).
Here’s one of my camera pictures showing the old 1,500 dc electrification structures that still predominate along the line, although this section’s had the contact wires simplified.
15:15.
That was a busy few hours! I’ve been exploring the area around Broadbottom station in order to get a few scenic shots in open country as well as check out the remains of the old fan of sidings that was Mottram yard. They were already abandoned when I was a kid, having closed in about 1970 but the arrival sidings remained open for loco changes from electric to diesel. Now the whole site’s woodland. Only a few clues as to their former use remain.
The yard was to the left. The remains of the short platforms for Mottram staff halt can be seen on the remaining lines. The view’s looking towards Manchester.
15:30.
Time for a refreshment break and a beer I’ve never tried before. The glass tells the tale…
18:35.
Home time. Well, heading back across the Pennines at least. I’ve manged to get most of the pictures I was after before the sun disappeared. Plus I’ve had an interesting time exploring and discovering new places. I’ll add a few pics from the camera later. Right now, it’s standing room only on the 18:21 From Manchester Victoria. So much for “but no-one’s travelling by train anymore”.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Today’s been one of those that didn’t exactly go to plan – but in a good way! After I’d finished editing the latest batch of pictures and getting them off to a client I’d intended to catch up with sorting stuff around the office – a sort of ‘autumn cleaning’ if you like – then blogging about the latest Sunak/HS2 debacle. The weather’s certainly changed here compared to the balmy days we’ve had so far, with temperatures staying in single figures, so I thought it was time to make the place more streamlined – and cosy. Instead I got sidetracked with pitching a story to a magazine which they’ve decided to run with so I became embroiled in initial research. Before I knew it, several hours had passed. Then I had a contact about a short-notice commission which I’ve managed to squeeze into next week. So, that’s the autumn cleaning and long blog out of the window for now as I’ve events in Derbyshire and Wiltshire to attend as well as an article to write.
Now I’m prepping for another day out in the Manchester area tomorrow (expect a rolling blog) as the weather’s promising to be half-decent and I’m running out of time to get the pictures I require, which means an early start tomorrow to make the most of the shortening days. I’m going to miss the long summer evenings, but the consolation is that winter sunlight (when you get it) is far superior to harsh summer sun – especially for artistic shots. Well, if you happen to be in the right place at the right time anyway!
Now it’s time to go as I’ve stuff to prepare. I’ll leave you with an image from the Hope Valley taken on Sunday. You can find the full selection in various galleries on my Zenfolio website, simply follow this link to see which galleries have been updated.
A Trans-Pennine Express Class 185 heads West towards Manchester through the gorgeous Hope valley.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
After a few days at home blogging about our lying Prime Minister and the deceit that’s “Network North” I’m having an interlude. Don’t worry, there’ll be another blog on Sunak and his sorry sorry saga of deception and incompetence this evening!
After an appointment in Sowerby Bridge that prevented me leaving earlier I’m now on a train to Manchester as the weather’s really too good to miss and I still have a long list of pictures I need to work my way through for a client. Feel free to pop back and see what I get up to as I’m not entirely sure what that’ll be myself!
Back to short trains and no stabiliser rail…
14:35.
After a relaxing (and sunny) journey to Manchester I added to my daily step total by walking between Victoria and Piccadilly stations through a busy city centre. En-route a plan had formed in my mind, so I’m now on the 14:33 to Glossop. I’m going to be looking at a couple of potential picture locations en-route – and a stop at one of the most misnamed stations in England…
“No mate, this isn’t the train to Stoke!”
15:45.
Maybe I should retitle this blog as the sunshine interlude didn’t last long at all this side of the Pennines!
My visit to Glossop lasted all of 30 mins. Just long enough to recconoitre a few photo sites as the light changed which was rather frustrating. Still, it means I have ideas worked out for the future. Plus, I did update my images of the gorgeous station at Glossop which still boasts a ticket office, barrier staff and a great little cafe.
Glossop station. The former ticket office to the right is now a lovely little cafe. There’s still an office here but it’s moved closer to the gateline.
15:55.
Having had a spin to Hadfield on the Glossop shuttle I’m about to head back towards Manchester.
The end of the line at Hadfield. The last stop on what was then the famous Woodhead freight only route to Penistone which closed in 1981.
16:55.
The beauty of this job is that you get to explore. Some places are better than others but they all add to your knowledge and experience. Here’s a station that only opened in 1985 but those naming it obviously had a sense of humour and tongues firmly in cheek. Meet ‘Flowery Field’…
Seriously?
Apparently, the name is due to its proximity to one of Manchester’s biggest parks. You’d be forgiven for not knowing that as you pass through! I got off to explore at it’s only a few minutes walk from another station on a different line – Hyde North.
This area of Manchester is pretty run down but there was a ray of hope as I cut through a nearby cul-de-sac although it took a minute to sink in. I passed several children playing in the street, drawing on the pavement with coloured chalk – just as my generation did half a century and more ago. They were outdoors interacting with their peers, not stuck indoors in their rooms ‘virtually’ interacting with people miles (or even continents) away.
Hyde North stations and it’s environs lived down to expectations and made me realise why I’d never bothered stopping. It has no architectural merit apart from the old footbridge. There’s a couple of basic shelters of modern design but that’s it. Admittedly, the local friends group have tried to brighten the place up with some art (and good for them) but I fear they’re trying to push water uphill! The area surrounding the station’s a mix of residential and commercial with little appeal. This is as good as it got.
19:30.
My return home way delayed by ‘shit happens’. I decided to have a quick pint in the city centre and ended up helping a woman who limped into the pub after twisting an ankle. She was both embarrassed and tearful so I ended up staying with her and helping her limp to a taxi before the cavalry arrived in the shape of some of her former pupils (she’s a Teacher) in town on a night out. Good deed done for the day I arrived at Victoria to find the new pub on the station was open for business and buzzing.
I’d passed the Victoria Tap earlier but fitting out work was still going on – even though pumpclips were advertising what draught beers were ready. I asked the young lady who served me how long they’d been open. Her reply was “about 3 hours!”
The tap’s only small. It’s a narrow two room establishment at the end of the station but it has a beer garden out back which is by the tram tracks and underneath the station roof. The range of beers is good and the prices are very competitive. A pint of ‘Farmers Blonde’ cost me £4.20.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
The widespread derision that greeted Sunak’s plan to fool people that by scrapping phase 2 of HS2 he suddenly had £36bn to spend on some wonderful and well-thought out new initiatives wasn’t what he was expecting. But when you’re as out of touch with the real world as multi-millionaire Sunak is – that’s not really that surprising.
Some sections of the media, both right and left, smelled a rat and – aided by people on Twitter who did the digging for them a slew of stories appeared, illustrating that some of these projects already existed whilst others were ones that had been sitting on drawing boards for years, were already in the pipeline or had already been rejected/cancelled by previous Tory PMs – the ‘new’ Bradford station being a classic example.
Useless Transport Minister Mark Harper and his sidekick Hugh Merriman were trotted out with Yorkshire leaders to pretend that there was suddenly £2bn to spend on a new station at Bradford. In truth it was no more than a cheap PR stunt which local leaders allowed themselves to be dragged into. There is no £2bn. There are no costed plans for such a station. there’s no planning permission, no land acquisition, no public enquiry or any of the other formalities required before anything actually happens. There’s more chance of me winning the lottery than anything remotely useful happening before the next general election, but the fiction has to be maintained in the hope of keeping a few Tory votes. For Bradford, it’s always ‘jam tomorrow’.
Harper managed to look even more stupid yesterday. After a number of impossible schemes in the ‘Network North’ report were pulled from the official website, Harper claimed in an interview that the schemes that had disappeared weren’t real commitments to do things (no shit!) they were just ‘examples’ of what could be done – with money that doesn’t exist! That’s not what Sunak had said, but then everything Sunak had said was a lie anyway.
I keep banging on about this but it’s important to understand why the £36bn claim is such an outrageous lie.
HS2 phase 2 was due to be constructed between 2023 and 2035, with services starting between then and 2041. That meant spending would be spread out over nearly two decades with peaks and troughs during that time depending on the intensity of construction or fit-out work. There is NO pot of money sat in the Treasury labelled “for HS2” that’s just waiting to be spent on other things. The vast majority of the money hasn’t even been properly budgeted for or even borrowed yet! Governments borrow money depending on the needs of regular spending reviews. Right now, that money doesn’t exist. You don’t borrow money needed in 2033 in 2023 (never mind money needed even later) as you haven’t even worked out how much you’ll actually need. All you really have is a forecast. They’re projections, not actual costings – or cash.
There is no £36bn. It’s a projection, a possible future budget, not real money in the here and now.
Sadly, a lot of the public have no idea of the reality here, and part of that blame lies with the media, who are woeful at telling people the truth. There’s a number of reasons for that. Part is laziness, part’s pressure to churn out stuff and damn the truth – and part is deliberate misinformation from ‘client’ journalists who’re really just mouthpieces for the Government – and say what they’re told to. Especially if the outlet they work for happens to be one owned by certain millionare media ‘tycoons’ who use their ownership of newspapers and TV channels to further their own personal/political agendas. That said, some journo’s working on left of centre outlets aren’t averse to spinning a story to fit a misguided ‘green’ agenda.
The end result is the same. Joe Public is woefully misinformed on subjects like HS2 – either by accident or design.
Here’s an example from today. A newspaper from those well-known ‘Northern’ counties – Devon and Cornwall – published this piece on the Camelford by-pass, entitled ‘Camelford bypass set to benefit from HS2 cancellation funding”
Wow! Camelford is going to get a new bypass now, eh? No. Of course not. A local Cllr put the story right on Twitter.
Wait! What? There’s *already* an outline business case?
Yes. It was originally submitted in 2019 and refined in 2022. It’s been sitting on civil servants/ministers desks since then. And is doesn’t need money from HS2 either. The ‘Atlantic Highway Camelford Improvement’ is eligible for money from an existing budget, as the report mentions:
“The Department for Transport (DfT) has made the A39 a part of the Major Road Network. This means we can apply for funding from the current 5-year national roads programme (2020 – 2025)”.
You’re being lied to – again.
This is classic delay tactics by Ministers. Want to make it like like you’re doing something whilst you’re actually doing nothing? Simple, just commission another study or ‘review’ and kick the can even further down the road. Plus, it means no-one actually has to pony-up the money they don’t have and just lied about! Plus, remember the small print of page 24 of that piece of crap ‘Network North’ Sunak laughably claims is a plan;
“As usual, individual projects referenced in this document will be subject to the approval of business cases“.
I’m going to end on a slightly brighter note. Labour have opened their conference in Liverpool and some of the ideas they’re putting forward are going to make a few Tories nervous (and hopefully, criminals).
Firstly, Labour have said that when they form the next Governement they’ll appoint a Covid corruption commissioner to claw back some of the £bns that went missing on dodgy PPE and unworkable systems like ‘track and trace’.
Secondly, they’ll revisit the planning laws. Shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves pledged to “rebuild Britain”, including by speeding up the planning process for key infrastructure projects – such as railways, including HS2 and whatever survives from the mess the Tories call ‘Network North’. Plus, a motion calling for the HS2 high speed rail line to be built in full was backed by Labour delegates.
Labour are starting to look like a party preparing to take power, which is excellent news. Maybe the future’s not so gloomy after all…
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
The other week I visited a village called Shawford, in Hampshire and passed a pub famous as the location of the demise of the TV character who’s catchphrase is the title of today’s blog. It seemed very appropriate to use to describe the latest tone-deaf crass stupidity from our Tory Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak. Fresh from not levelling up, cancelling the majority of the UKs new green railway to drive a motorway through previous commitments to net zero, he tweeted this.
From his private plane.
I can only assume his recent list of culls included all of his PR advisors, as even the most tone-deaf intern could spot the optics of this. But Rishi? Oh no. As a multi-millionaire he’s so used to wealth and privilege it simply doesn’t occur to him.
But that’s it, isn’t it? Trains are for plebs. Who needs a railway when you’ve got access to a private plane? I assume the helicopter he normally uses must be in for servicing or summat
The sooner we eject these out of touch idiots from Government the better – before they do any more damage the the country…
I’ve a small favour to ask (as I’m not a multi-millionaire with a private plane)… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m writing this because no-one (apart from his close circle of friends) will know of John Russell-Brown – or JRB as we called him. I have to admit I’m no longer one of them as I haven’t seen JRB for many years, but all will become clear later.
Sadly, JRB died of cancer on the 3rd October, in London. Apparently, he’d been ill for several years but decided to refuse any more treatment.
I first met Jon when I was applying to live in the housing co-op in East London which became my home for a decade back in the 1980-90s. JRB was a friend of friends and when I got a flatshare there in 1986 we were allocated a flat just a few doors down the same balcony from JRB. The whole balcony became thick as thieves as we had a lot in common – beer (real beer) being one of them, although thinking back to those times my poison was real cider. Oh, there was food too. Jon lived on his own and could be quite a private person. He never married and in all the years I knew him he never had a partner. That was never a problem. Many of us didn’t – we just all gelled. It was very heady days. Then, Jon was a dispatch rider, often travelling daft distances on his motorcycle to deliver stuff. These were the days before the internet – or Amazon when you could make a living doing such things.
Jon could be quite imposing in his leathers. He was tall, well-built (but not fat) bearded with close cropped hair. He was also a gentle giant. He had a stammer, which I think he was quite conscious of but none of us ever mentioned, why would we? He was just a lovely bloke – and very knowledgeable about beer – and politics. We became good friends and part of a small group I nicknamed ‘The Corbin drinking crew’ – Corbin House being the name of block on Bromley High St we lived in.
Jon was also very well read. We used to have parties in his small flat which was filled with books and beer memorabilia. I remember he used to make his own houmous which contained so many cloves of garlic you wouldn’t have seen a vampire for miles!
Sadly, when Lynn and I moved to Crouch End in North London I lost touch with Jon – apart from when I attended the Great British Beer Festival (GBBF) where I knew I’d catch up with Jon as he was a volunteer on the Foreign beer stand. Sadly, moving to Yorkshire (and Covid) prevented me being there for some time.
But I’ve never forgotten Jon, or those fabulous and special days living in Corbin House. God, we used to have fun. Travelling around London to different pubs, attending the Canterbury beer festival and many others – and simply having a great time.
I’ve hundreds of pictures from those days but right now this is the only one I can find that I’ve scanned. I’ll do better soon. Here’s JRB flying kites with the rest of us on (I think) Blackheath in May 1995. I know I have better pictures. I’ll find one soon.
Jon may have gone – before his time too – but he’ll always live on in my memory, and that of all those of us who knew him. Sleep well, gentle giant. See you on the other side…
We’re less than 24 hours from Sunak’s appalling speech to the Tory party conference and things are already falling apart for him. But that’s the problem when you tell lies, they’re often so easy to expose when honest folk start to do some investigating.
Remember the Sunak’s claim that, right up to the last moment ‘no decision’ had been made on HS2? He lied. Not only was that obvious when the ‘Network North’ document and fantasy shopping list was slipped out (which had clearly been cobbled together days before) but he also made a video for social media. ITV had a look at it – especially the background, and revealed it was made at least a week before conference. You can see their report here. This morning Transport Minister Mark Harper (another conference liar) has been touring the TV studios, essentially saying ‘so what’? Yeah, who cares that we have yet another Tory Prime Minister who lies so glibly?
Now the wheels are coming off some of the ridiculous claims of what projects the imaginary £36bn of ‘savings’ from scrapping Hs2 phase 2 will fund. Some of the projects are utterly batshit. The whole list seems to have been cobbled together by someone Googling old transport schemes or people’s aspirations without any consultation with people who know about transport. Hence the addition of two absolute howlers.
Apparently, Network North will build an extension of Manchester Metrolink to Manchester airport. There’s only one problem. That was completed in 2014. Another completed project included in the wish-list was highlighted by Nottingham MP Lilian Greenwood.
Another list of projects has mysteriously disappeared, as local BBC reporter Dan Holland has found.
The fact that most of these schemes are little more than vaporware is given away by a footnote on page 24, which says “As usual, individual projects referenced in this document will be subject to the approval of business cases“.
But, as many of them are basket cases, not business cases, they’ll never happen. Some would never get through Network Rail’s GRIP process (Governance for Railway Investment Projects), like the idea to electrify the Hope valley line between Manchester and Sheffield. Whose daft idea was it to prioritise that? We’ll never know as no-one’s putting their name to this list of fantasies. Certainly, no-one in the rail industry was consulted, or Northern Mayors. Back in 2015 the Northern Electrification Task Force (set up by the Transport Minister reported on the priorities for electrification in the North. Number 1 on the list of 12 routes was the Calder Valley (Leeds to Manchester and Preston via Bradford and Brighouse). I blogged about it at the time. You can find the full list here. Hope Valley came in tier 2, so why’s it been mentioned in this report ahead of all the others? How many marginal Tory constituencies are on the route I wonder, or on the route of some of the other invented schemes?
Here’s the list of tier 1 routes. Guess how many have been electrified since 2015? Not a single one!
Calder Valley (Leeds to Manchester and Preston via Bradford and Brighouse)
Liverpool to Manchester via Warrington Central
Southport/Kirkby to Salford Crescent
Chester to Stockport
Northallerton to Middlesbrough
Leeds to York via Harrogate
Selby to Hull
Sheffield (Meadowhall) to Leeds via Barnsley / Castleford & connections
Bolton to Clitheroe
Sheffield to Doncaster/Wakefield Westgate (Dearne Valley)
Hazel Grove to Buxton
Warrington to Chester
How many are on the fantasy list? Just one (Sheffield to Leeds) with no funding agreed.
The truth is – ‘Network North’ is a con, which is why the ‘North’ now includes the South-East and Devon and Cornwall! Just look at the map! It’s the whole of England (and a bit of Scotland)! Oh, and why is Manchester now where Preston is?
Money has been diverted from the North to imaginary schemes right across England. Worse, money that was building a new green railway now will (supposedly) built motorways and dual-carriageways, sometime in the future, maybe – ish. And fill in potholes. So much for ‘net zero’ – and so much for ambition.
Can you start seeing the size of the con yet?
We’re going from spades in the ground actually building something that’s been 15 years in planning to a series of schemes (some resurrected, others just dreamed-up) where the vast majority of them will never happen – but they will look good on election pamphlets in marginal constituencies in 2024.
One of the great ironies of all these is one of Sunak’s main justifications for scrapping HS2 phase 2 which is the fact it’s been repeatedly delayed. Yes, and whose bloody fault is that? His Governments! If the Tories hadn’t continually dithered and delayed, changed their minds and kept interfering in the plans, Phase 1 and 2a of HS2 would have opened in 2026 and 2027.
Now we see the Tories doing their damndest to sabotage the future through a scorched earth policy of selling off land earmarked for HS2 as quickly as possible to make it as difficult (and expensive) as possible for Labour to re-instate what’s been scrapped. It’s political cynicism and economic destructiveness at its worst.
There’s another problem too. Credibility. Who in the financial markets of business sectors will trust the word of this bunch of liars again? Why would anyone take the risk of investing in the UK when a government acts this way? Over the past few years the Tories have proved they simply can’t be trusted to keep their word, be it international agreements they admit they’d willingly renege on (brexit) to HS2.
A final problem. This is government by diktat. No-one was consulted about this. This is Sunak usurping power and ignoring the democratic process. Ignoring the will of Parliament, ignoring regional elected political leaders and ignoring the institutions of state such as bodies tasked to run the transport needs of the country. It’s profoundly undemocratic. We don’t even know who drew up this daft list of projects. All we know is no-one who matters was consulted – apart from the Tory Mayor of Birmingham, Andy Street, who was stopped from resigning (if the threat was ever real) by being fobbed of with the promise of a rail scheme he’s been fobbed off with in the past and which still hasn’t been delivered.
The whole of the UK not just the North should be appalled at what’s occurred. This is no way to plan anything – much less the economic wellbeing of a country. But that stopped mattering to the Tories years ago. Now all that matters is trying to cling to power.
It’s been said that what the Tory party conference was really about was a battle for the soul of the Conservative party. What that conference proved was that they don’t have one.
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
I’m not going to pull any punches here but neither am I going to get into too much detail right now as I’m too bloody angry and still gathering data.
Here’s what I do know. Sunak has lied. Big time and repeatedly – and this is all down to him. Cabinet responsibility my arse. From what I’ve been told by various sources no-one had a clue what he was going to say until the very last moment. Many not even then.
No-one in the railway industry had any idea. Nor in HS2 Ltd, or the Infrastructure Commission. The Regional Mayors of the cities affected (including the Mayor of London) hadn’t the foggiest. None of the people who should have been consulted on cancelling the biggest civil engineering project in Europe were consulted – at all. This was a decision made by one man – and whoever’s been whispering in his ear.
Because Sunak lied to everyone.
He insisted just a few days ago that ‘no decision had been taken’ He lied. How do we know? Because shortly after his appalling speech at the Tory party conference this document, titled ‘Network North’ was slipped out on the DfT (who hadn’t been consulted either) website.
It’s 35 pages long. There’s no way on God’s green earth this was cobbled together over last weekend – although cobbled together it was. It’s appalling and I’ll be pulling it apart in another blog.
Sunak is claiming that by cancelling phase 2 of HS2 he has £36bn to spend on transport projects around the UK. It’s a lie. There are no £36bn savings. The money doesn’t exist. None of these projects could possibly happen before the next election. The budgeted spend on HS2 phase 2 over the next 5 years is around £3bn. The small print on page 24 of ‘Network North’ gives the game away. These schemes are a wish list that have no business case (and never will) nor planning permission or any other of the legal hoops such schemes have to jump through. Plus, the amounts they’re supposedly meant to cost are pure guesswork. It’s a con, an election con.
HS2 Phase 2 had (to quote Sunak’s laughable phrase) ‘spades in the ground’. He’s scrapped a scheme that was actually being built for ‘jam tomorrow’ but he knows he won’t be around to make any of them happen. It’s pure bullshit, and the party faithful (and the gullible) will fall for it – as well as a few parochial Northern luddites. He’s set rail investment and tackling Climate Change back by a generation. Oh, and don’t even get me started on the faux Greens who’re welcoming the decision to cancel a green railway to divert the money to road building instead. I have a special circle in hell reserved for them…
We are all being lied to – big time. We need to start understanding that – and we need to start doing something about it. Much of the national and nearly all of the regional media are doing an appalling job on this because they’re not doing the obvious and following the money. What money? The £36bn is a fantasy, as HS2 Ltd and Government accounts show – so why are they not pointing this out?
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
As I suspected. This week’s proving very different to the last one. I’ve hardly moved from the house apart from a brief foray into Sowerby Bridge yesterday in order to pick up some shopping. Mind you, the weather’s hardly been conducive to venturing far. We’ve had more than our fair share of rain here in’t Pennines – such a contrast to the great weather we enjoyed in Surrey. So, I’ve battened down the hatche and got square eyes by wading through the hundreds of pictures I’ve had to sift through and edit before captioning them and getting them on to my Zenfolio website. The process is almost finished – the last ones will be done by tomorrow. I’ve also written an article for RAIL magazine on my visit to the HS2 bridge site near Aylesbury last week.
HS2 is taking up a lot of the media’s time right now due to the absolute car-crash that’s the Tory party conference in Manchester. That the route to Manchester might be scrapped has been widely leaked to the press and Sunak is making an utter fool of himself parroting ‘spades in the ground, spades in the ground’ whilst refusing to quash speculation that he’s started himself! The optics of this are mad. Who in their right minds would hold a party conference in a major city you’re about to deprive of a new high-speed railway? But, looking at the conference it’s clear anyone in their right mind has stayed away. Leaks from those there describe the atmosphere as like a party at a funeral. It’s more ‘the last days of the bunker’ in the levels of unreality that have crept in. One would be forgiven for thinking its really the UKIP conference with the Tories having drifted so far to the right. That Nigel Farage himself has attended and been lauded by some says it all. Then there’s the video of Farage dancing with Priti Patel. God help us! It gets worse, our esteemed (are you taking the piss? Ed) Transport Minister, Mark Harper has joined the ranks of the batshit conspiracy theorists and condemned the concept of ’15 minute cities’. Add this to Sunak announcing his going to scrap non existent plans to tax meat and make you use seven recycling bins and you can see how far from reality the Tories are straying.
The Daily Mirror newspaper has helpfully highlighted 5 of the maddest claims and outright lies used in speeches at the conference. Talk about having no shame…
Then, today, Home Secretary Suella Braverman channeled her inner Enoch Powell to give the most awful speech imaginable, full of anti immigration rhetoric and condemnation, telling people we’re facing a ‘hurricane’ of immigrants coming to take over our shores then launching into more ‘war on woke’ tirades that forced one man to grumble aloud. It wasn’t even a heckle, but he was immediately pounced upon by security and police, had his pass ripped from around his neck and was ejected in full view of the media who caught it on camera. Then it turned out the man was none other than Andrew Boff, the Conservative Chair of the London Assembly!
This car crash will hit the inveitable brick wall tomorrow, although from what I’m hearing many delegates have already left in despair. Tomorrow Sunak is due to address the conference. Will he be suicidal enough to announce the cancellation of HS2? Who knows. Whoever is advising him from the Tufton St cabal could well have sealed his, theirs and the Tories fate, because such an announcement will go down like a bucket of cold sick, no matter how he tries to spin it. ‘Levelling up’ will be exposed as a joke and the North won’t forgive, or forget. And I suspect the Labour party will be watching with bated breath as the Tories could well be about to leave them a huge open goal.
I’ll be waiting for the next set of opinion polls to come out after this shambles is over with great interest. In the meantime, I’ll leave you with today’s picture which is one of the batch I’ll have uploaded to my Zenfolio site tomorrow. Rightwinder try and pretend there’s no need for investment in the railways anymore as no-one using the trains nowadays. Really? Here’s the concourse of London’s Liverpool St station seen at 18:25 last Thursday. Just containing tumbleweeds, obviously….
I’ve a small favour to ask… If you enjoy reading this or any of the other blogs I’ve written, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course – although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab! – but the revenue from them helps me to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site (which isn’t cheap and comes out of my own pocket). Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website – https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/
Paul Bigland 