That was all about stopping the economy collapsing at a post Brexit time of vulnerability. Anyone thinking otherwise is a vulnerable fool. They ended it by reducing benefits on the most vulnerable at a time the cost of living was rocketing. There’s the evidence on what the driver was.
They were ****ting themselves about the economy, throwing money about like confetti (They must have found that elusive "Magic Money Tree")
Relief that the Bond villain is out of the running, worst of them all imo., I thought he was a shoe in.
It was never going to be completed was it ... ... the Dell monorail was more likely. The NE just doesn't figure in the plans tbh, ten years of this government and very little has changed. There'll always be another excuse from Covid to Ukraine and back. The only excuse that won't be used is Brexit even though they would if they thought they could get away with it. Truss was a confirmed remainder and fervent campaigner, Sunak has already said Brexit is causing a slump in UK trade ... ... whatever happens the NE will be waiting a very long time to be levelled up.
At the end of 2014 , Cameron and Osborne ( election around the corner) made a rare visit to NE and announced that £290m was set aside and waiting to be spent on 13 miles of A1 dualling( Morpeth to Ellingham) Brownie points assumed - “ get on with it”, completion in 6 years . 7 1/2 years later , not passed planning , now plans being scrutinised by Secretary of State ( even if govt intervention needed , why sec of state- surely minister of transport ?) Decision due Dec 2022 . When decision was set at Jan 22 , even if agreed , there would be 6 months cooling off period . So now even if agreed , no shovel will be lifted until July 23 . 8 1/2 years then 2 minimum til completed. Crossrail , was started in 2014 . 15 billion pounds. 78 miles of train track , over 20 of which in new tunnels under a city- plus stations and infrastructure. Completed 2021 , just one year over expected six. My bet is an excuse will be found to drop our 13 miles of road widening
EDit funnily enough just been on local ITV news.. '' this proposal has been going on for decades under successive govts'' ''some wonder wether this is a proposal with no end''
Much better to let those lovely Russians, Indians and Chinese have the bother of making things ... ... we can rely on them to be nice to us and let us buy things at a fair price. And we can all sit in nice clean call centres while they do the dirty work.
As Boris continues to boast about his legacy, and our world class Covid response, the infection/death rates are worrying especially at a time when people are crowding into airports ... ... at least our tourists can spread it around other countries and help bring their figures up to our levels. "Around 2.7m people in the UK had coronavirus in the week ending 29 June, up by 420,000 from the week before." https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-51768274.amp
'The biggest rises were in Wales and Northern Ireland, where infections were up by around 40% on the previous week. But overall, infections are higher in Scotland than anywhere else in the UK, 1 in 17 people in Scotland had the virus last week, compared to 1 in 25 in the UK as a whole.' Boris looks after England's health.
So what do we do ? We have to live with it, we cant keep locking down and we cant afford to let the tourism trade suffer anymore.
Dunno mate, it's just frustrating when our European neighbours are doing better when it was claimed we were leading the world. How can they be doing so much better, its puzzling tbh and I don't have an answer .... ... my concern is that our rates are really going up and the holiday season is upon us.
Like with the Tories I wouldnt believe 1 word that the French, Spanish, Italians or any other of the EU nations spout when it comes to Covid. They are all very bitter towards the UK after Brexit, its done we have to move on. The Tories however just cant seem to move on from the mess they have made, they have been gift wrapped an opportunity to reform, restructure and regroup by Labour but just seem to lurch from crisis to crisis. I couldnt vote for any of them personally, parliament has more crooks darkening the halls and corridors than our prisons. In any other time this would be a massive opportunity for Labour but there is no way on earth that shower would win a general election.
