We're all in this together

Once again, I am no defender of the Tories but Virgin Rail have supported the statements made by Osborne's office that he and his party were ready and prepared to pay the upgrade price and did not make a fuss.

Rail fares are a nightmare, most of the non-standard rate tickets from my station come with lists of trains you can and cannot take on any particular day and I must say I find when I travel by train I am always concerned that I might, quite inadvertently caught a train I was not meant to be on and the inspector will demand large sums of money off me as a result.

I recently travelled about 30 miles by train. I bought a standard rate ticket on the day using my Senior railcard. I travelled with a friend who got on the train at the previous station five miles away. He had bought his ticket well in advance, also using his Senior railcard. Hs ticket cost 50% more than mine.

Travelling from Manchester to Edinburgh, I usually get a good deal on a first class seat on Trans Pennine trains, but their first class on that line is fairly basic. The main differences are that refreshments are included and all seats have tables. Standard seats on the East Coast line are more comfortable. And as for the leg room on Cross Country standard class, don't get me started.

When

I think you made a very good, unbiased remark. I think the truth of the story is far less interesting than the media want it to be.

Sir George Young is the new Chief Whip. If anyone watches Parliament Live I think they would have to agree he is a gentleman, a rare breed in Parliament these days.

whitewve Apologies. I am a clot. I misheard the man on the radio and thought he said George Younger but, in fact, he said George Young as the new Chief Whip. I though Viscount Younger was a bit long in the tooth, though come to think of it Sir George Young must surely be in his seventies. Anyway, please ignore my previous idiotic burble.

Just to go back a bit, I once saw Tommy Sheridan on a train, which I thought was good for a start, and he was sitting in Standard Class like the rest of us, which I thought was even better, so although I never shared all his political views I still have a soft spot for him.

when, much as it hurts to be fair to George Osborne, I am sure you're right.

Anno the wife of the former member for Macclesfield had a wife. MP for the neigbouring Congleton constituency who was similarly given to gaffs, most notably a really cheap racist remarks she had regarded as a joke.
She was quite put out by the condemnation and in her defence said she had "made the remark at a "private dinner".

Well thats alright then Mrs Winterton!! No problem or offence given there then!

Wasn't there a really tasteless 'joke' about Chinese cockle pickers at the time of the Morecambe Bay tragedy? Rugby dinners were her stamping ground, I believe. Nelliem, something you said before made me think you might live somewhere around here. Am I right?

Apparently GO has been referring to campaigners for sustainable energy sources as the "environmental taliban" Incredibly offensive, I'd say.
www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/beware-george-osborne-we-environmental-taliban-are-on-the-march-8217052.html

GO and DC have not had a good week or so have they?

Oh, that makes me even more ashamed of the coalition!

So do we trust an ITN Granada reporter or George Osborne's aide? That's a bit of a tricky one, methinks. She (journalist) does claim that the guard or ticket collector or whoever was standing beside her seat when he had the conversation with the aide. I have no idea whether she was able to record it.

Apparently, they had a big bunch of security Met checking train timetables and surrounding Gideon at Euston to whisk him through a different exit, past the bins and into a car. That way, he didn't have to face journalists, irate members of the public or rent-a-mob.

Did you know GO changed his name by deed poll at the age of 14. DD changed the spelling of her shortened birth name and dropped the full length version at much the same time. She managed it simply by telling all the family what she had done.