Sunak kills the Northern Powerhouse.

Grantanow

Oreo

I listened to what Sunak had to say about HS2 today and what money would be used for instead in helping northern places.
I think I’ve changed my mind about HS2 now as long as the money’s spent well connecting northern towns and cities, also improved buses in rural areas.HS2 shouldn’t even have been started, the money could have been better spent locally from the start.They have to start doing things really soon tho or nobody will believe it’ll ever happen.

Of course it should never have been started but whom do we have to thank for that? Partygate Johnson. He of the Garden Bridge, the airport on the Thames estuary and the bridge or tunnel to Northern Ireland.

Just to keep the facts straight this amazing idea:

... was investigated by the Labour government in January 2009, during Gordan Brown's tenure in Number Ten. A consultation on a route from Birmingham to London, extending to Manchester and Leeds, was subsequently published in 2010.

So it started well but THEN Johnson wanted to play and find a new toy.

Does anyone really believe Rishi's promises today? Really? Once cancellation fee's are finalised and the other costs to wind-down the HS2 project are paid, there won't be a lot left. Plus, setting up new projects take time and money, neither of which it would appear Rishi has - after all we are only a year away from a GE.

He can promise whatever he likes now and blame whoever is in power for non delivery.

I don't know how these people sleep at nights, i truly don't.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202310/medium-877550-img-0350.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202310/medium-576186-img-0349.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202310/medium-190070-img-0342.jpeg

There’s a Guardian article 25th January 2020 headlined ‘Revealed the 12 billion pound bill for scrapping high speed rail link’. I can’t copy it but I’ve taken photos of it….

I think it was cringy having his wife give a speech about her husband. Who elected her?

CoolCoco

I think it was cringy having his wife give a speech about her husband. Who elected her?

utterly unnecessary

Ian Dale asked Gina Miller on LBC Cross Question how we can hold someone or someones responsible. Interestingly answer.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xMhQDcESws

Gosh. So much negativity! It's almost as if those who dislike this government are running scared 😱

And no, I'm not a fan either, but all this protesting is amusing

Louella12

Gosh. So much negativity! It's almost as if those who dislike this government are running scared 😱

And no, I'm not a fan either, but all this protesting is amusing

Ok. Throw me something positive then….

Been reading all the comments in the media etc.

So I reckon that Sunak, had he made a good speech, might have clawed back some support, but he didn’t.

It was devoid of all the things that matter. It was simply a list of stuff that Sunak has hit upon that he personally has an issue with.

Nothing about

Housing

Social Care

Energy

The Environment - like the state of our rivers and sea.

All things that people care about.

Sunak has just lost the Tories the election.

*Does anyone really believe Rishi's promises today? Really? Once cancellation fee's are finalised and the other costs to wind-down the HS2 project are paid, there won't be a lot left. Plus, setting up new projects take time and money, neither of which it would appear Rishi has - after all we are only a year away from a GE.

He can promise whatever he likes now and blame whoever is in power for non delivery.

I don't know how these people sleep at nights, i truly don't.*

👏👏👏👏👏👏

It was a delusional speech. It’s all very well saying he’s going to crack down on x,y,z when this government has only 12 months to run- how much of this did people vote for? And don’t get me started on them telling us what “ the British people want”….I’m one of the British people and I don’t want half this guff. What the British people want is affordable housing and food prices that don’t go up every week , none of that got a mention.

Has anyone tried to use trains from Leeds station? Has anyone asked people living in the north whether they would prefer faster travel to London or improved access to other Northern cities?
It’s all very well for newspapers to cite Cameron, Johnson and Truss slating the policy and using it against Sunak but these politicians were completely inept themselves and seem to have some issues with being Conservatives.
Sunak has also announced changes to the A level curriculum!

IT should never have started, but made worse by the effects of Covid, funding of it and Inflation. The original networks need to be put right and that has to be a priority. It is not easy to pull the plug when so much money has been wasted, hearts broken by their homes and livliehoods wrecked. What a distaster for those people in particular. I think it was a hard decision and unpopular yo many but the right one, it doesn't make you popular but it makes economic sense. This government need to make these hard decisions before "Hindsight" gets in and shakes the money tree and wastes millions on Europe, I think he might have a hidden wish to live there because he certainly doesn't care about this country.

First smile of the day *Allsorts, thanks. You reminded me of a favourite quote.

Hindsight is notably cleverer than foresight. - Chester W. Nimitz

Whoops, I pressed ‘send’ too soon.
What I meant to say was that foresight is dangerous, when coming from a such a low base of proven leadership ability that the government has demonstrated. The legacy for the next government will be so mountainous in scale and complexity, that employing hindsight is absolutely vital. I hope that Starmer is well categorised by that nickname, he will need to use hindsight on a constant basis to understand and put right all that has been destroyed.

CoolCoco

I think it was cringy having his wife give a speech about her husband. Who elected her?

She's no Michelle Obama is she.

casdon frankly I don’t know where they are going to begin. I do know that the last Labour government held it’s nerve for about 2 years whilst it sorted out and understood what was needed, after which reform was swift and sure.

I was reading a list of stuff the other day and it was astounding what they achieved.

What I would add, is that they did not inherit remotely the absolute dire state that Starmer will inherit.

I hope that after the experience of Cameron, Johnson and Truss runaway prime ministers are curtailed be they Sunak or Starmer. Time for joined up government and not Messianic leaders leading us nowhere in particular.

How come they pull the plug on HS2 because of cost, yet they can suddenly afford all these other projects?

Sunak has been reported to the police over his comments he made about Sturgeon.

Contempt a lawyer suggested?

Allsorts
If Rishi goes anywhere it will be the USA. He didn’t have a green card just to go on holiday.

Whitewavemark2

What I would add, is that they did not inherit remotely the absolute dire state that Starmer will inherit.

I know, that’s exactly how I feel too. I think it will take at least 5 years before the next government will be able to see the wood for the trees, never mind make any significant progress in improving peoples lot. Not promising what you can’t deliver is such a sensible approach now. The next few years will be expose after expose of the current ills I suspect, so let’s hope the electorate take notice.

Whitewavemark2

What I would add, is that they did not inherit remotely the absolute dire state that Starmer will inherit.

I am still trying to get my head around the fact that when any party can talk, or even be allowed to talk, to the Treasury, before an election, is in the "gift" of the PM still amazes me.

I really am beginning to think we need a basic codification of our constitution that makes a government have to be more open - or we could have a new law, I suppose.

DaisyAnneReturns

Whitewavemark2

What I would add, is that they did not inherit remotely the absolute dire state that Starmer will inherit.

I am still trying to get my head around the fact that when any party can talk, or even be allowed to talk, to the Treasury, before an election, is in the "gift" of the PM still amazes me.

I really am beginning to think we need a basic codification of our constitution that makes a government have to be more open - or we could have a new law, I suppose.

What exactly do you mean DaisyAnneReturns, surely the opposition, and for that matter the public should fully understand the state of the public purse and the impact of government policy on expenditure?