Tory Conference

Sky news have just reported confirmation.

What? Confirmation it’s being cancelled or not?😄😄😄

Talk about a…s from elbow. I’m beginning to wonder if they know anything about anything!

Last week a report was produced by the Financial Authorities to say that no bank accounts have been closed because of the holders political views.

What has Hunt just stood up and said?

You guessed it😄😄😄

They are not worried about their credibility are they.

Ilovecheese

Sky news have just reported confirmation.

Sky is this minute reporting that a government spokesman has said that reports that the northern leg of HS2 is to be scrapped is incorrect.

He's just offering us an alternative fact, Wwmk2 😂

Over to you Peston😄😄

I reckon that what has happened is t.hat Sunak has made the decision to cancel but it hasn’t yet been run past everyone else in the cabinet.

I think so too, ITV News have just put this up.
www.itv.com/news/2023-10-02/hs2-to-manchester-shelved-itv-news-understands

The question needs to asked why it costs 10x as much to build a high speed railway in the UK than it does in France or Italy

I shall await Robert Peston's announcement with interest

Can't get over the Truss side-meeting being so over subscribed and popular - 200 turned away.

Before today I was sad for Conservative Originals because it felt like Truss would get back as leader if Conservatives lost the election. Now I feel terrified that she will take over if they win or even before the election. Just think what damage she could do!!!

-Can't get over the Truss side-meeting being so over subscribed and popular - 200 turned away-

No doubt small hall deliberately booked in the first place. And dogged advance publicity and rallying.

I don't know what concerns/frightens me the most; Liz Truss with the hide of a rhino strutting about oblivious to the colossal financial damage she caused, or the fools who think she was misunderstood and would make a great leader.

I think people queued up to see Truss for the same reason that traffic slows down at the site of an accident on the motorway, they were hoping to witness a disaster. Seems she trotted out the same story that damaged the UK's economy so really nothing to see there.

So it seems that HS2 has been cancelled, but not yet announced by the PM.

Whatever happened to constitutional government?

It couldn’t get much more shambolic.

vegansrock

The question needs to asked why it costs 10x as much to build a high speed railway in the UK than it does in France or Italy

They probably have a more robust public accounts committee than we do.
If you have worked for a nationalised industry you would understand how when spending the taxpayers money anything goes.

The delay in the Thames tunnels was announced last March.

I know people who have worked on hs2 who have absolutely no idea what they are doing but got paid obscene amounts of money. They all had the mindset it would be scrapped

I also wonder how Italy can build a high speed railway for so much less than we can, especially when you remember how much money is usually siphoned off by the Mafia.

I heard Hunt proclaiming that the minimum wage will rise to £11! He tells us that this will show the workers that the Conservatives have their backs! I wonder when Hunt was last paid £11 an hour.

Farage is being lauded by the Tory faithful.

Pundits are suggesting that he’d be voted in as leader if the faithful had their way.

Blimey - he’s even more Trump than Johnson.

What is it with the judgement of the Tory members? Look at the leaders that they have voted in lately - first Johnson - the country’s biggest liar, then Truss - the country’s biggest incompetent - who is being listened to with baited breath only a year after she totally trashed the U.K. economy, still up there spouting the same nonsense, now it is Farage who they are listening to starry eyed, with his xenophobic, nationalistic rants.

Quite extraordinary.

I didnt think HS2 was a worthwhile project from the start, since then it’s become an uncontrolled juggernaut that generates its own inefficiency. As a railway from London to Birmingham it’s a waste of time, however the Mayors of Birmingham and Manchester both want it completed to help develop the “northern economy”
So on balance it needs finishing

foxie48

I think people queued up to see Truss for the same reason that traffic slows down at the site of an accident on the motorway, they were hoping to witness a disaster. Seems she trotted out the same story that damaged the UK's economy so really nothing to see there.

I wish I thought that was true.

As to the high cost this government has been very happy giving untendered contracts to their mates, most of whom had no experience in that particular field. Where are the accounts ?

Whitewavemark2

Farage is being lauded by the Tory faithful.

Pundits are suggesting that he’d be voted in as leader if the faithful had their way.

Blimey - he’s even more Trump than Johnson.

What is it with the judgement of the Tory members? Look at the leaders that they have voted in lately - first Johnson - the country’s biggest liar, then Truss - the country’s biggest incompetent - who is being listened to with baited breath only a year after she totally trashed the U.K. economy, still up there spouting the same nonsense, now it is Farage who they are listening to starry eyed, with his xenophobic, nationalistic rants.

Quite extraordinary.

Like many Parties not all who call themselves "Conservatives" are Party members. Those who aren't have only the influence of their vote - which remains a given even when the Party has become more extreme than they feel comfortable with.

The same is true on the left. Look how many voted for the Party with Jeremy Corbyn as leader.

Eventually, people do stop voting for extremes. But the Party supporter is a herd animal, liking the company of others they believe to be like them. Often they wait until well after the damage has been done and sometimes after would be dictators, rather than would be democratic leaders, have taken over.

We've all seen it happen. We just chose to believe we would never be a part of it and "it couldn't happen in our country". Because the vote is now about belief the Party and the Leader have to be supported at all costs so the voter does not have to admit they got something wrong.

It's always worth remembering many of the leaders we loathe most were elected by citizens of democracies.

Whatever is Farage doing there? I didn't know he was even a member of the Tory party. His influence is no longer even being concealed.
Regarding HS2, I've seen what it's done in the Chilterns - ancient woodlands ripped up. As usual, an enormous waste of money and it should be shelved immediately before any further ecological damage is done.

The mayors of Birmingham and Manchester agree HS2 should be completed as part of levelling up
Andy Burnham has also consistently called for east west rail improvement
Most of us in those areas would have prioritised that over hs2
Having reached this point, not bringing hs2 to Manchester seems yet anither insult, proof ‘the north’ doesn’t matter