Tag Archives: Politics

Election result. What does it mean for HS2?

14 Saturday Dec 2019

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, StopHs2

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With the last result declared, Johnson’s Government now has a clear majority of 80. He no longer needs the backing of parties like the DUP and it waters down the influence of special interest groups or rebels.

As I predicted, the StopHs2 campaign had a lousy election. Long on bluster, they’ve always been short of any serious political influence and this is obvious in the results. They were never a genuine threat to any MPs on the route. A good example is on the phase 2b route at Erewash where Maggie Throup, the local Tory MP has always made her support for HS2 plain. Despite the fact their was a vociferous anti Hs2 candidate standing against her for the Green Party (Brent Poland) and there’s a local Stophs2 ‘action’ group she increased her majority by 4.4%!

Meanwhile, over in Bolsover, the prominent anti-HS2 MP and Labour veteran, Dennis Skinner lost his seat! What’s been crystal clear is that the big issue has been Brexit, not Hs2.

Here’s a bit of number crunching. Of the 41 MPs who voted against Hs2 Phase 1 back In 2014, just 20 of them are still MPs. Plus, 7 of those 20 actually voted FOR Hs2 phase 2a! Whilst a few new MPs have stated their opposition it doesn’t affect the numbers. For example. Labour’s John Barron in Rother Valley who was opposed to HS2 has been replaced by a Tory MP with the same stance. Some of the new Tory MPs in the Chilterns are making noises about HS2, but it’s nothing more than posturing to keep some of the locals happy. Phase 1 is a done deal, there are no more votes in Parliament to be had.

Where does this leave HS2? Johnson’s Conservatives made big inroads into the Labour heartland of the North and Midlands. He now has to deliver on his promises to the people who’ve lent him their votes. He’s promised to ‘level the field’ between North and South and invest in infrastructure. Cancelling HS2 would send entirely the wrong message to people who have bought into his promises. He can’t ‘get Brexit done’ and he needs their votes again in five years time. With Hs2 (and NPR) he can at least offer them something tangible.

During the election campaign Johnson made it clear that he’d go along with the recommendations of the Oakervee review of HS2. As the leaked report shows Oakervee recommends building HS2 in its entirety. Does anyone seriously expect Johnson to cancel it? There might be some tweaks to the Phase 2b route, but it’s worth remembering that another scheme Johnson backs (Northern Powerhouse Rail) will share 50% of Hs2 Phase 2’s tracks. You won’t get one without the other.

Of course, Johnson’s government could cut the cost of HS2 by renegotiating some of the construction contracts which have loaded on costs due to the transfer of risk from Hs2 to the contractors, which would make a lot of sense and save billions, making him popular all round and pull the rug from under the remaining HS2 objectors.

My prediction is that we’ll see Hs2 phase 1 get the go-ahead very quickly to end the uncertainty and Phase 2a resume its course through the Lords. What’s left of the StopHs2 campaign has no serious political influence and Johnson has a lot on his plate. The last thing he needs now is to fight a needless battle with Northern and Midlands leaders by scrapping any of HS2.

Watch this space…

Went the day well? Election thoughts…

13 Friday Dec 2019

Posted by in General election 2019, Musings, Politics

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Well that’s settled then. Presented with a choice between a slow, lingering death and a lingering, slow death, the country chose. Instead of ‘Magic Grandad’ Jeremy Corbyn the country opted for the blond buffoon and serial liar Boris Johnson – and gave him a working majority. The tactical voting many of us hoped for failed to change anything. The only ‘Portillo moment’ was when Lib-Dem leader Jo Swinson lost her seat in Scotland by 149 votes. The SNP now hold 48 of the 59 Scottish seats.

Now we know where we stand and Johnson is expected to deliver on his promises, which is where where the trouble starts. Get Brexit ‘done’? How? This is going to drag on for years. The only thing that’s getting done is the poor saps who fell for it.

Meanwhile, the hard-left in charge in Labour are already forming their wagons into a circle and defending Corbyn in their usual fashion. It’s everybody’s fault but theirs. They’ve been ‘betrayed’ by the voters – again. Don’t expect any humility or introspection here, it’s not what they do. Labour are looking increasingly irrelevent in a post-industrial UK. Like the Tories, they hark back to the past rather than have an eye on the future. Can they change with the hard-left in control, or will they wither on the vine?

What now for the Lib-Dems and the centerist voters made homeless by the Tories and Labour moving to the political extremes?

At least the stock markets have bounced back (the FTSE is currently up 1.84%) and sterling has strengthened, it’s up 1.9% against the US Dollar, so some of us have made some money for now. The poor? You’re on your own now. Many of you fell for the idea that a bunch of entitled old Etonians, ‘Spivs’ with Belizean Diplomatic passports and multi-billionaire media moguls had your best interests at heart, Good luck with that…

As we now know where we stand for the next few years, many people will be making plans, including international companies with operations in the UK but markets abroad. EU citizens will be too.

I wonder how long the euphoria in Tory ranks will last before the magnitude of the situation begins to sink in? Will Johnson dial down the rhetoric now he’s not held hostage by the likes of the ERG, or will he hold fast to the anti EU sentiments and keep up the lies and claims he can do the impossible and get Brexit ‘done’? We’re about to find out. He has a lie to make reality and it’s only going to end one way.

One other observation. Our electoral system is broken. First Past The Post has led us to this. Look at the numbers of people voting for particular parties, then look at the number of MPs they have. Until that changes democracy in the UK’s a joke.

This election has settled everything, and nothing. But it has got rid of a lot of uncertainty and set parameters for the next few years, and many people will be planning accordingly. Expect the United Kingdom to look a very different country (or countries) in a few years time…

Rolling blog: the election unfolds…

12 Thursday Dec 2019

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22:50.

I’ll keep this up for a while but hardly all the way through the night. An exit poll, carried out by Ipsos MORI for the BBC, ITV News and Sky News, suggests the Tories may win 368 seats and Labour 191. If this translates into reality, it will be a disaster for Labour and allow the Tories free reign, which means we’re stuffed.

Will this prediction come true? Right now there’s no way to know, but exit polls have proved to be accurate in the past. If they are, it’s a disaster for the Labour party and those of us who want to see the UK stay in the EU. Typically, the hard left in charge of the Labour party are already crawling all over social media, blaming everyone else and accepting no responsibility whatsoever. It’s others fault for not being as ideologically pure as them.

Let’s see how things pan out as the first results start coming in, which won’t be for a few hours yet, but here’s a good example of how Twitter (and many of us) feel.

23:20.

The first result has come in and it’s from Newcastle (central). Labour have held it with a reduced majority. Sunderland South declared a few minutes later. It’s also a Labour hold. Here’s the change in votes.

It gets worse. Labour have lost Blyth Valley with a 10% swing. It’s the first time a Tory has ever won there.

00:01

It’s looking pretty crap for Labour. But none of them are taking responsibility. It’s the voters fault, not theirs.

We now move to Newcastle East, where Labour hold the seat with a reduced majority.

00:05.

Sunderland Central. Labour Hold, but the Brexit party and Lib-Dem votes are interesting.

00:20.

Despite the exit poll, it’s far too early to tell what’s going on as the only results we have are from the North-East.

00:29.

The first result from the South. Swindon North:

Conservatives hold it, and add to their majority.

00:42.

Hmm, I’m watching the Channel 4 news election news and it’s fascinating to see who’s part of this. Former Speaker of the House John Bercow’s really good. He has the insight you really need as he understands the political tribes and I love his precision in the English language.

01:06.

Nuneaton; Conservative hold with a much bigger majority.

01:24.

The Tories take Workington from Labour with a swing of 10%…

01:48.

The Tories again Peterborough from Labour (again). Things are not looking good and the exit poll is looking pretty accurate.

02:00

I can’t watch and blog at the same time. Plus, I’m now reaching for the wine- so goodnight!

Election day.

12 Thursday Dec 2019

Posted by in General election 2019, Musings, Politics

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It’s finally here. The general election that few people, other than the zealots on either side, are enthused about. One where many people see the choice being that between two lacklustre candidates, neither of whom are Prime Ministerial material, a choice between ‘Magic Grandad’ Jeremy Corbyn and the blond buffoon and serial liar Boris Johnson. It’s like being offered the ‘choice’ of a slow, lingering death, or a lingering, slow death in an awful campaign that’s been dominated by lies, deceit and efforts to mislead. The truth is out there, but it’s hidden by a fog of misinformation and hidden manipulation on social media.

Who’s going to win? I’ll be honest – I haven’t got a clue.

What I do know, though talking to friends and colleagues over the past year is that this election is different. The old tribal loyalties have been split asunder. This applies to both parties. I’ve talked to life-long Tory voters who won’t touch the present party as well as Labour voters who’re in exactly the same position. These people feel that both parties have been taken over by the dogmatists and fundamentalists who’ve dragged them both ends of the political extremes. Which was these politically homeless people will vote could have a huge impact.

So could tactical voting.

Whilst the pollsters are predicting a small Tory majority, I do wonder if their models can cope with the present uncertainties as some people are so torn they still don’t know which way they’re going to vote, even though the polls have already opened. Another factor is loyalty to individual MPs, which I’ve also heard people talk of.

Others have certainly made their mind up and decided to vote not for – but against a party and anyone who has the best chance of keeping them out, thus voting tactically as a damage-limitation exercise, because if one thing is dominating this election it’s Brexit, with the NHS close behind.

This swirl of uncertainties means we going to be in for a very interesting election night. One thing I will predict is that there will be at least one ‘Portillo moment’ – when the then Tory Minister unexpectedly lost his seat in the 1997, leading to enormous bouts of schadenfreude from his opponents.

If you’re still undecided and are reading this, the only thing I would urge you to do is vote for the good of the country, not for the good of any political party. There’s far too much at stake for that. Johnson isn’t going to ‘get Brexit done’. It’s a lie. He’s just going to drag us into another cycle of uncertainty that will drag on for years, because we never ‘took back control’, we gave it away. Now we do have a chance to take back control – from the charlatans and liars who got us into this mess in the first place.

Go. Vote…

13:25.

The day’s turned in to a wet and miserable one here in the Calder and Colne valleys. I wonder what effect that might have on turning out the vote, and which party may benefit from it?

Whoever wins on Friday, the losers are StopHs2.

11 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, Railways, StopHs2

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Despite all their bluster it’s clear that one group are having a lousy election and that’s what’s left of the StopHs2 ‘campaign’. For years they’ve tried to pretend they have the support of the majority of the public and that HS2 is an election issue. Their problem is that every election since 2010 has proved that’s nothing but hot air. This election’s no different.

There’s been no daft #NoVotesForYouWithHS2 hashtag on Twitter this year, nor any StopHs2 adverts in newspapers or magazines as the ‘campaign’ is skint. What there has been has been reduced to some ludicrous bluster on Twitter. Here’s a couple of examples.

“Hundreds of thousands” eh? Well that should give the Greens and Brexit party a bounce in the polls, eh?

Meanwhile, there’s this rubbish from one Stephen Leary who lives in Measham, NW Leics and fancies himself as a political pundit!

Leary’s bored Twitter to death by telling people in constituencies miles away from the Hs2 route who they can vote for to oppose HS2 – as if they haven’t got more important things on their minds this election! I’m sure they’ve been talking about nothing else in Worcester, Woolwich or Wood Green! I mean, forget Brexit, or the NHS. Well, in Leary’s febrile imagination that’s what they’re doing anyway! Meanwhile, in the real world, the ‘Britain Elects’ website has been monitoring the standing of the parties in the many polls. Here’s their summary from yesterday.

So much for Deeley’s “hundreds of thousands” of HS2 antis and Leary’s desperate digging up of political no-hopers like the SDP (who? Ed). The two national parties who oppose HS2, the Greens and Brexit party are languishing at the bottom of the chart. How many seats are they projected to win? None at all. The Greens will hang on to their one existing South Coast seat whilst the Brexit party won’t win anything anywhere.

So much for all the bluster! Hs2 antis have supplied all the bounce of a dead cat to the parties that oppose HS2! Whichever party or parties form the next Government support building the new railway.

Something else HS2 anti have been reticent to mention is this interview Boris Johnson gave to the Metro newspaper. It says.

“BORIS JOHNSON has said he will back HS2 — as long as the Oakervee Review does so too.“

As the leaked draft of the Oakervee report does exactly that, I think we can see which way the wind’s blowing – the direction that’s going to take the wind out of Stophs2’s sails completely…

The truth is out there…

10 Tuesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Fake News, Politics

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It’s just very difficult to find it…

I’m posting this in response to the flood of ‘fake news’ on social media such as Facebook and Twitter because it’s important we search for the truth. This isn’t even party political. This is about fake news – whoever promotes it.

You may well have seen a lot of stuff trying to discredit the story of a 4-year old boy in a Leeds hospital. Well, here’s the detailed explanation and verification of the facts from James Mitchinson, the Editor of the Yorkshire Post, written in response to a woman who’d been taken in by the fakes and contacted him.

“Margaret (forgive my using your first name but I am loath to guess at your title for fear of getting it wrong).

Thank you for your email and thank you for being one of our loyal weekend readers. So much time, effort and talent goes into putting the weekend package together that it is always nice to know there are people out there who value it.

Forgive my doing this, but I do feel it is important to respond as you would expect me to as the editor of one of the most trusted newspapers in the country.

The story was first published by the Yorkshire Evening Post after the mother – Sarah – contacted us directly;

Because it is irresponsible – and reckless – to take one person’s word and take it as fact, we immediately checked the veracity of the assertion with the hospital. That’s not a boast, by the way, just bog-standard journalism;

The hospital itself confirmed the set of circumstances you read in our story were and are correct;

The Chief Medical Officer for Leeds Teaching Hospitals – Dr Yvette Oade – accepted the situation had occurred and offered an explanation as to why. The principal reason given for what happened to Jack was demand outstripped capacity. They were overrun;

The Chief Executive, Julian Hartley, confirmed their ordeal had taken place. He offered a personal apology to Sarah and to Jack whilst backing the staff at LGI who are absolutely giving their all, but cannot cope with the sheer number of people needing their help.

So, as you can see, we went to great lengths to establish the story was true and to check that the hospital accepted as much. I do not blame you for contacting me as you have done. You are not the only one to have seen the Sheree Jenner-Hepburn Facebook post – amongst thousands of others very similar in nature – and believed it to be true. What we are dealing with is quite simply: a very poorly little boy in a place that cannot give him the care he needs and as a result a mother reaching out for help. They are the ones that really matter, here.

As I say, I am not surprised you have been misled by that post. But, if you’ll bear with me, I offer you this:

That account has now disappeared. Our accounts are still here and you can hold me and my journalists to account;

You have no way of holding Sheree to account, nor checking her words. She’s a stranger to you. You don’t even know if it is a real person, so why do you trust her claim over the newspaper you’ve taken for years, in good faith?;

Sheree – robot or human – did not offer a credible source. The words a ‘good friend of mine’ adds warmth and humanity to the post in order to dupe others into believing her words are credible. They are not, as far as anyone can tell. I attach below a screengrab of multiple accounts who also claim to have a ‘good friend’ at LGI. It simply isn’t credible or true. Again, the words are manufactured very carefully and cynically in order to mislead;

I also attach for your interest several accounts claiming to be ‘a former paediatric nurse’ – the accounts are fakes. All make the same claim, using the same wording.

Margaret, it may well be that those who will benefit the most by breaking the bond of trust you have with the likes of The Yorkshire Post and Yorkshire Evening Post have already won, but I urge you to consider which news source you can get in touch with. Who is willing to look you in the eye and tell you they did their best to get it right versus those who pop up on Facebook, spout something so compelling that others share it, and with that undermine the truth and discombobulate decent citizens.

I would be more than happy to meet you over a coffee or such to offer you an explanation as to how sophisticated and corrosive the proliferation of fake news is, and what you can do to guard against being conned by it. Only – of course – if that is not patronising (I absolutely do not mean it to be) and welcome. However, if you no longer trust your Yorkshire Post – and I will be frustrated and disappointed if these people had wrecked your confidence in this historic champion for the county – contact the hospital directly. Whatever you do, do not believe a stranger on social media who disappears into the night.

Very best wishes to you and your family ahead of the festive period.

James“

You’ll find James at @JayMitchinson, where the story of the disinformation continues to unfold, like this tweet about Sheree Jenner-Hepburn, whose Facebook account started spreading the disinformation.

The Guardian newspaper has more here.

The plot thickens…

Going nowhere fast…

04 Wednesday Dec 2019

Posted by in Brexit, Calder Valley, Halifax, Musings, Politics

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After yesterday’s fun and games gallivanting up and down the West and East coast main lines I’ve had a far more relaxing day catching up with work at home – with nary a real train in sight! It won’t last of course, but it makes for a pleasant interlude. You can find many of the photos from yesterday on my Zenfolio website. Follow this link to see which galleries they’ve been added to as there’s a variety. Here’s one from the end of last night, when my homeward bound Grand Central service was diverted via Hebden Bridge.

180106 working 1D95, the 19.54 from London to Bradford Interchange reversing at Hebden Bridge after being diverted.

Whilst busy editing pictures I’ve been keeping one eye on events in the wider world and the political shenanigans in the UK where we’ve been graced by the presence of the Tango’d Tw*t. Sorry, the President of the United States of America, who’s been rubbing shoulders with other NATO leaders including our very own bouffant buffoon, Boris Johnson. It seems it’s not just ridiculous hairstyles and a proclivity to misogyny the two men share, it’s also an aversion to press conferences and interviews. Both men either cancelled them or cut them short, whilst Johnson is still running scared of and hiding from a BBC interview with Andrew Neil! When these mean are classed as ‘leaders’ of the free world is it any wonder we’re in such a mess?

With all that in mind I filled in my postal vote today. Regular readers will know that I’m advocating voting tactically. There’s hundreds of thousands (if not millions) of us who see themselves as politically homeless at the moment due to the shit-shower on both the Left and Right of UK politics at present. I’ve talked to just as many Tories who’re in that position as I have Labour supporters. There’s no doubt that Brexit and the parade of the dogmatic, venal or talentless politicians that we see on either front bench right now has caused a shift from the old tribal politics. It’s just that none of us know where it’s going to lead when the dust finally settles. So far the election campaign interviews with various politicians have seen more car crashes than the Indianapolis 500. I especially like this one, with the latest in a (very) long line of UKIP leaders!

As a tactical voter I’ve had to hold my nose and consider who is best placed to keep out Johnson and help block Brexit, rather than whom I might prefer to vote for. of course, the decision’s never easy as you may end up voting against a good local candidate, but many voters are now doing what not enough MPs have – and are putting country before party (if they still feel they have allegiance to one). This went into the post tonight, sans stickers of course…

With the latest polls showing a narrowing of the gap between the Tories and Labour and distinct signs that tactical voting is starting to register it looks like we’re in for a very unpredictable election night that could very well provide some more ‘Portillo moments’. I see the Green party have now stood aside in the Chingford seat of arch Brexiter Iain Duncan Smith, who only has a slim majority in a constituency evenly split between Remain and Leave in the 2016 referendum. It’s also rumoured to be looking dicey for another Brexiter and member of the Cabinet, Dominic Raab, in his staunchly remain constituency of Esher and Walton, which would be a major turn-around. I’m not going to expect too much as one can always be let down, but I suspect many of us can think of certain dogmatic MPs who serve no useful function that we’d love to see lose their seats. I wonder if someone shouldn’t produce a Brexit Bingo card with their names on? It would certainly add to the entertainment.

If the polls continue in this vein I’d certainly recommend getting in the popcorn for the night of December 12th, along with something stronger, just in case it’s needed.

Talking of the election but on a different tangent it’s been amusing to see the dwindling band of StopHs2 Nimbys desperately trying to pretend that they’ve still got a dog in the fight and can actually swing the vote in some constituencies. The fact we’ve empirical evidence from every election since 2010 to prove this is nothing but bluster makes no difference, they’re still maintaining that fiction! Quite who they expect to fall for it – other than themselves – is a good question. here’s a classic example from Peter Deeley.

Seriously? No, it’s bluster, Deeley’s timeline reveals that he’s always been intending to vote for the Brexit party. Shame they’re not standing in his constituency, as I’ve blogged about previously here!

OK, enough of politics, I’m off to edit a few more pictures! Goodnight…

A mixture of musings…

27 Wednesday Nov 2019

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To misquote Kings Henry II on Thomas a Becket – ‘Who will rid me of this turbulent weather’? It’s been another bleedin’ awful day in the Calder Valley. For the umpteenth in a row we’ve had rain, fog, low cloud and the sort of depressing weather that make you want to reach for a travel brochure that features white sand beaches and palm trees. Not that there’s much chance of that at the moment, unfortunately.

To add to the general merriment we’re also slogging our way through a turgid general election campaign where you wish an option on the ballot paper would be ‘non of the above’. I received my postal ballot today and found that we have a choice of Holly Lynch, the incumbent Labour MP – whom I respect, even if I can’t stand ‘Magic Grandad’, her party leader, or some of the lacklustre people he’s put on the Shadow Front bench. Then there’s the Lib-Dems, the Tories (whose candidate lives in Lancashire!), the Greens and the Brexit party. The woman who’s paid Farage her £100 to stand for the Brexit party lives way over East in Batley and Spen, the constituency where their Labour MP, Jo Cox, was brutally murdered by a far-right extremist.

The Brexit party candidate’s name’s Sarah Wood and all I know about this young woman is that I’m getting well pissed-off with her clogging my Facebook page with adverts like this! She admits she never voted until 2015, now she expects to be elected as an MP, but I’ll be damned if even she knows what she stands for. One of her videos filmed in the local market claims the Brexit Party will scrap local business rates and replace them with a ‘small’ tax on online retailers. It doesn’t take a rocket-scientist to spot the flaw in that plan! This is populist politics at its basest.

“Ready”? Ready for what? Bunging Farage a few more quid?

Well, that and the fact her replies to some of the comments on her FB adverts don’t exactly make you think she’s a political titan who’s got much of a grasp of things. You know, like reality…

I’m hoping that Wood will split the brexity vote and allow Holly Lynch to retain the seat in order to help deprive Boris Johnson of a majority. Plus, we get to keep a decent local MP, so a win all round!

How the election’s going to play out is anyone’s guess, but I’ve been heartened to see how many young people (ie, under 35) have registered to vote before the deadline closed. The potential impact this could have can’t be underestimated, because they’re the one’s who have most to lose from Brexit, and it’s clear that Conservative Party Central Office are acutely aware of this as Johnson’s lead in the polls starts to disappear. I don’t believe for a minute that Corbyn is going to sweep to power. I suspect we’ll end up with another hung Parliament, but I am hopeful that tactical voting will produce more than a few ‘Portillo moments’ (when he lost his seat in a shock result in the 1997 general election). I came across this on Twitter earlier and hope it has relevance to Halifax too…

Politics and weather aside, I’m back on the rails again tomorrow, so expect the first rolling blog for a while. I’m heading back to London to get some pictures for a magazine, then pop over to an event that I don’t want to spill the beans about just yet. The reasons for that will become clear tomorrow! Typically, the weather forecast isn’t looking great wherever I am, North or South, the only difference is that the rain will be warmer in London!

My spleen needs venting…

21 Thursday Nov 2019

Posted by in Brexit, General election 2019, Politics

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So far, I’ve pretty much stayed away from the fray and restrained myself from commenting on the forthcoming general election and what ‘delights’ are on offer, but the time’s arrived when I need to vent my spleen at the political shit-show that’s being proffered.

There’s an old saying that a country gets the politicians it deserves. In which case the current crop must be fate getting its revenge for years of British colonialism and imperialism. Fate also seems to have a sense of humour, hence two of the ‘stars’ of Johnson’s Cabinet (Savid Javid and Priti Patel), the offspring of immigrants, helping make the country so unwelcome to anyone who came afterwards. The perma-smirking Patel being the classic example. You do wonder if she has an ounce of empathy for anyone. She positively revels in the idea that she’s helping deprive people of the right of freedom of movement, seeing this as something to boast about and completely ignoring the fact this isn’t really foreigners she’s depriving it of. After all, it will only be one country EU citizens will be restricted from (the UK), whilst Britons will be deprived of the same rights in 27 EU nations. Fate must be laughing like a drain…

Meanwhile, that walking, talking vanity project and illegitimate baby-factory we’ve learned to call our Prime Minister continues to show just how utterly unsuited to the great state of office he really is. Johnson spews lies like a someone born to it – which he was. His whole life has been founded on his ability to lie without thinking (or morality), despite him having been sacked twice for it by people with more honour than he has. Scandals swarm around him like flies around shit. The tragic thing? No-one seems to care. He knows he’s lying, the media knows he’s lying, most of the public knows he’s lying – but it makes not the slightest bit of difference as we’ve become so blasé about lies after three and a half years of the Brexit shambles. This is confirmation bias on a weapons grade scale and why the country’s on the verge of a breakdown – and a break-up.

Like most tragi-comedies, there are two sides, and the other is the inability of Her Majesty’s opposition to be a credible opposition. We’ve the worst Tory Government in living memory, but we’ve also the worst opposition too. Any opposition worth its salt should be streets ahead in the polls right now. Instead, ‘Magic Grandad’s’ Labour party is trailing – badly – but his acolytes just don’t care. They’re more concerned about the ‘purity’ of the party rather than the country they think they can/should lead. It’s the ultimate political clusterfuck as with our First Past The Post (FPTP) system it’s almost impossible for anyone else to break the two-party system.

The best we can hope for is for people to vote tactically, to deprive the Tories of a majority and prevent the hard Brexit that’s clearly their goal. This means we’ve all got to hold our noses and vote with our heads, not our hearts. Will it happen? I don’t know, all I can do is encourage people to do exactly that. If we do, the future could look very different. If we don’t – then the future looks bleak. A new Conservative Government with a workable majority and with Johnson at the helm will ruin this country. I doubt the union will survive, but then as a few polls have pointed out, the hardline Brexiters care more about delivering Brexit and would be happy to see the break-up of the UK as a consequence. The fact most of them can’t agree what Brexit actually means matters not. This is a cult…

The December election is going to be the most important one since World War 2, but it seems clear many people are bored with it already, despite what it could mean for their future, or their children’s future. We’re an old, complacent democracy with a population who’re more interested in what’s on TV than who governs them. Whatever happens, I fear this is not going to end well…

It’s cold up North!

19 Tuesday Nov 2019

Posted by in Calder Valley, General election 2019, Musings, Politics, Railways

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Actually, I don’t think it was just the North that was suffering from plummeting temperatures in the past 24 hours, but the mercury’s certainly dropped here in the Calder Valley! The pair of us has another early start and I was in the office before sunrise – glad of the fact the heating and associated electronics were generating some warmth as I slaved away over some more old slides. I didn’t think I’d have had time but I’m keen to get as many done as possible at the moment as I don’t know when I’ll get the time again and the ones I’ve been adding are relevant to some of the rail franchise and fleet changes we have coming up shortly. Looking back at them I realise how time has flown.

Here’s a example. This was one of the first passenger runs of a Virgin Pendolino, On the 30th April 2002 Virgin ran a press trip from Euston to Manchester Piccadilly to highlight the trains would be used on trips from London to the Commonwealth Games in July. It was a high-profile event that included Richard Branson, Brian Souter, John Armitt and many others. You can find the rest of the pictures in this gallery. In those days Pendolinos were only 8 cars, hence them fitting into photographs with the trains they were replacing.

The day wasn’t entirely devoted to nostalgia as I had to nip into Halifax to do some chores so I took a slight detour up to Bradford Interchange in order to be able to add a couple of modern shots to the archive, such as this. Here’s one of the new CAF built Class 195s pulling out of Bradford Interchange en-route to Manchester Victoria.

This evening the weather’s dropped back to miserable temperatures, so the pair of us are having a quiet night in. Despite the temptation, I’ve resisted watching the political ‘Leaders debate’ on ITV tonight. There’s several reasons. Neither of them look remotely like ‘Leaders’. I won’t learn anything new that I’ve not heard before and I can follow each camp putting their own gloss on things via social media – as well as see the honest commentary from those with no party – political axe to grind. The idea that these two jokers are the best the English political establishment can offer up is too depressing for words. My only hope is that by the time it comes to voting, enough people say “a pox on both your houses”…