Some weapons grade guff is being talked about the HS2
project right now, and mainly about which of the Westminster parties is really
driving this train. As might be expected, those of a right-leaning persuasion
are convinced that Young Dave and his jolly good chaps are in the left-hand
seat in this particular driving cab. But my conclusion is that they’re at the
other side, just keeping the tea warm.
After “Auguste”
Balls dropped heavy hints recently that Labour might pull the
plug on the exercise, and phrases such as “no blank cheque” were liberally
scattered around, the Coalition fought back: “David
Cameron says Labour is guilty of playing petty politics with HS2”
proclaimed the Manchester Evening News
late last month. The warning was clear: Labour was endangering the project.
This was the
exact argument advanced yesterday by London’s occasional Mayor Alexander
Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, when he effectively climbed off the fence, abandoned
all those against the project to whom he had given so much false hope, and fell
in behind his party leader. Sadly, Bozza had – not for the first time – not been
doing his research.
Balls is not the only senior Labour figure talking about
HS2: Andrew Adonis, an enthusiast for rail if ever there was one, has been
advising Mil The Younger, and the
Staggers warned last week that
the party was planning to claim victory by positioning itself as the ones that
forced the Coalition to get costs under control. The HuffPost also
suggested that Labour was “setting a
trap” for the Tories.
Well, whatever trap was being set, Cameron has walked
straight into it: “Opponents of the HS2 rail link are
‘putting our country's future at risk’” reported the BBC, also noting “Mr Cameron also said the new boss of HS2
would find ways to cut the estimated £50bn cost of the scheme”. So now came
the admission that the cost of HS2 may be revisited, and economies sought.
But the Daily Mail
was
sticking with support for Cameron: “David
Cameron pledged to bring down costs of High Speed 2 line ... He will task HS2
head with report into how £42.6billion budget can be cut ... Takes a swipe at
Labour over its faltering support for link to the north ... The Prime Minister
vowed to take on Labour's claim to be the party of the north”. Good
stirring stuff, eh?
It was left to the deeply subversive Guardian to let slip what was really happening: “Prime minister to ask Sir David Higgins to bring north-south train line in under budget after opposition raised concerns” was the sub-heading, with this observation in the text: “his move to cut costs suggests Ed Miliband has put him the back foot”. Yes, the Labour leader has once again put one over on the PM.
It was left to the deeply subversive Guardian to let slip what was really happening: “Prime minister to ask Sir David Higgins to bring north-south train line in under budget after opposition raised concerns” was the sub-heading, with this observation in the text: “his move to cut costs suggests Ed Miliband has put him the back foot”. Yes, the Labour leader has once again put one over on the PM.
Again, Miliband is outmanoeuvring Cameron. Odd way of governing, methinks.
1 comment:
iDave's campaign to get a grip on budgets may be a harder job than he thinks. Starting with transport minister Goodwill who got his own departmental budget wrong by a factor of 3!!
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-24823826
doesn't bode well.......
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