Transport
High Speed 2 is needed to bring Britain’s infrastructure into the 21st century
The National Audit Office has slammed High Speed 2 today, citing a £3.3 billion ‘black hole’ in the funding plans while suggesting the construction timetable is ‘over-ambitious.’ Not exactly an… Continue reading
116 Comments
HS2 ruling: both sides claim victory
The useful thing about most court rulings in judicial review cases is that both sides can take from it whatever they want and make it into a victory. We had… Continue reading
18 Comments
Are High Speed Railways for the North or for London?
I used to think High Speed Rail was an excellent idea. Now I’m not so sure. I suspect the economic case for the proposals is weaker than its proponents allow.… Continue reading
15 Comments
No ifs. No buts. Heathrow must have a third runway. Or must it?
‘No ifs. No buts. Heathrow must have a third runway.’ This was our motion of the evening at last night’s Spectator debate, but when it came to kick-off time, it… Continue reading
28 Comments
Aviation: Don’t say one thing and do another
Some tickets to the Spectator’s next debate, ‘No Ifs, No Buts: Heathrow Must Have a Third Runway’, are still available. Tim Yeo, chairman of the energy and climate change select… Continue reading
31 Comments
What will the coalition do next?
We are now closer to the 2015 election than the 2010 one. We also expected by now to have the coalition’s mid-term review, the document that will set out its… Continue reading
35 Comments
The government could repeat its West Coast Mainline mistake with HS2
This Monday Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin faced the House of Commons to make a second statement on the fiasco surrounding the West Coast Mainline rail franchise. Reporting on the initial… Continue reading
32 Comments
Cheryl Gillan steps up anti-HS2 campaign
The West Coast Mainline debacle has given opponents of HS2 another stick with which to beat the government. Cheryl Gillan took the opportunity of Patrick McLoughlin’s statement on the matter… Continue reading
13 Comments
Conservative conference: Patrick McLoughlin wrestles the One Nation mantle from Miliband
Patrick McLoughlin was the obvious choice to confront Ed Miliband as the Labour leader tries to steal the ‘One Nation’ mantle from the Conservative party. The former miner opened his… Continue reading
10 Comments
The myth of the paperless citizen
Another day and another unasked for letter asking me to live online. This time it is from my bank, NatWest – and yes, yes, thank you I know that by… Continue reading
11 Comments
Richard Branson forces government into a great train U-turn
Sir Richard Branson is not a man who takes kindly to failing to get his own way. That was why few people were surprised by the Virgin boss’ furious response… Continue reading
95 Comments
Fares rise brings fresh cost of living woe to Tories
This morning’s announcement that the retail prices index rose to 3.2 per cent in July, up from 2.4 per cent in June, means commuters will see a 6.2 per cent… Continue reading
26 Comments
The government needs to make cycling safer, and so do we all
In the last week alone by winning Olympic gold and through his victory in the Tour de France, Bradley Wiggins has single-handedly raised the profile of cycling in this country.… Continue reading
59 Comments
Railing against government policy
The cabinet is out and about today, trying to smooth feathers ruffled by last week’s Lords reform row by splashing out on £9 billion worth of investment for railways. Today’s… Continue reading
0 Comments
Railing against government policy
The cabinet is out and about today, trying to smooth feathers ruffled by last week’s Lords reform row by splashing out on £9 billion worth of investment for railways. Today’s… Continue reading
10 Comments
Journey from Hell reinforces the case for HS2 U-turn
The Glasgow-based writer Gerry Hassan took part in our Scottish independence debate on Tuesday, and then made the mistake of getting the train back to Glasgow. It took 15 hours.… Continue reading
32 Comments
Tory minister: HS2 is ‘effectively dead’
Why was David Cameron so lukewarm in his endorsement of HS2 at PMQs today? (In response to a question about the project’s future, he offered, ‘I believe we should go ahead… Continue reading
109 CommentsWalking beyond parody
As the Times’s Sam Coates suggests, this official Department of Transport video lands right in the middle of The Thick of It territory. Remoding (1:00 in), anyone?
28 Comments
Cameron needs a proper party chairman
Normally, when a Tory government is in trouble, the party chairman is sent out to put themselves between the bad story and the Prime Minister. But Baroness Warsi and Lord… Continue reading
20 Comments
Fuel for the political bonfire
Pasties and jerry cans — who’d have thought that yesterday’s politics would descend into a roaring debate about two such innocuous items? And still the hullabaloo goes on. Most of… Continue reading
66 Comments