Friday 15 February 2008

BoJo to Scotland: Drop Dead!

OK, so Boris Johnson's a clever chappie. And he's a lot more fun on the TV than most politicians. If I still lived in London I suppose that I'd vote for Boris as a way of removing Ken Livingstone from the mayoral suite. I've even had a go at Ken myself in the old days.

But for those of us living in Scotland Boris is a menace:

"Domestic flights in this country are a crime, they are a sin. You will not find, under a Johnson mayoralty, 381 officials taking flights within this country. That's absolutely criminal" - Boris
So, if Boris gets his way, we can say goodbye to Edinburgh's financial sector. It depends on all those "criminal" domestic flights. The idea that the Scottish business community could rely on the existing train service is a joke.

Don't get me wrong - I prefer to travel by train. But the current service isn't good enough. Scotland needs those flights.

There is an alternative of course.

Move the UK capital to Scotland and we wouldn't need to fly up and down.

Stop crime. End sin. Boris for Lord Provost!

1 comment:

David Farrer said...

Comments made on previous template:

APL
šMy solution would be to automate them so that trains are driverless, controlled centrally by computer. Sending out single carriage units every few minutes rather than long train every hour.š 
 
Years and years ago, I remember watching a BBC ŽTomorrows WorldŽ, where just this sort of system was being built, for some reason I think it was Newcastle - but who knows. 
 
šSending out single carriage units every few minutes rather than long train every hour.š 
 
With the internet, you could just summon a carrage to be at your local station for a given time. Hop on and away you go....

19 March 2008, 22:23:28 GMT
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Neil Craig
APL the free market (ie cheap) solution would be to tarmac them over & call them roads.  
 
My solution would be to automate them so that trains are driverless, controlled centrally by computer. Sending out single carriage units every few minutes rather than long train every hour. This would provide more flexibility & capacity at lower running cost. I would also replace current trains with something far lighter probaly built by bus manufactuers rather than rail manufacturers. 
 
To do this would require a regulatory system which encouraged innovation but it would also require several years of the current subsidy regime plus some investment money. That is certainly not a libertarian solution but I think that a countrywide automated mass transit system would by worth the investment. Among those who accept that government investment is ever legitimate doing so to improve transport infrastructure is usually, along with education, at the top of the list.

14 March 2008, 15:13:12 GMT
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Andrew Duffin
Move the capital to Edinburgh? 
 
You're too late, pal - it's already been moved to Brussels, didn't you notice?

26 February 2008, 21:14:36 GMT
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APL
Neil Craig: š..but at least 90% of the time.š 
 
So Nationalisation of the UK Rail system is probably not the solution then. What else could we try?

24 February 2008, 19:53:09 GMT
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Neil Craig
They are a shambles, they don't make a profit & they are run by the government. This doesn't happen absolutely always when government runs things (eg Singapore Airlines) but at least 90% of the time.

23 February 2008, 12:16:45 GMT
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APL
GA: šbut the services are privately run and a shamblesš 
 
So they donŽt make a profit. And you claim the services are lousy. Sounds rather like the old British Rail then?

23 February 2008, 12:10:36 GMT
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Gus Abraham
I dont know - you tell me - but the services are privately run and a shambles

22 February 2008, 10:15:00 GMT
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APL
GA: the rail service, is run for profit.š 
 
Ha, ha, ha, ha, Ho, ho, ho! 
 
And exactly which year did the UK rail service last make a profit?

21 February 2008, 22:50:43 GMT
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Gus Abraham
There is an alternative of course. 
 
Nationalise the rail service, after al the reason its so ******* **** is its run for profit.

21 February 2008, 16:16:42 GMT
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Simon Jester
Hmm... if we're going to move capital, it occurs to me that the USA located their capital in DC because it wasn't in any of the states... 
 
and Berwick isn't exactly in either England or Scotland...

16 February 2008, 19:40:39 GMT
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Neil Craig
I doubt if 381 less London apparatchiks flying to Cardiff, Edinburgh, Belfast & probably even Manchester is going to hurt our flying industry much. 
 
Anyway Boris said some relatively reasonable things about the Kosovo war while Livingston was an out & out enthusiast for helping Blair commit genocide & rape children. 
 
Even if he had made the trains run on time he would still by scum.

16 February 2008, 17:24:17 GMT