A blog by Luke Akehurst about politics, elections, and the Labour Party - With subtitles for the Hard of Left. Just for the record: all the views expressed here are entirely personal and do not necessarily represent the positions of any organisations I am a member of.

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

Tory take on Crossrail

Tory GLA Member Brian Coleman's New Statesman column - http://www.newstatesman.com/200710090002 - is a treat this week.

He attacks the Corporation of London for helping fund Crossrail, saying:
  • "it [Crossrail] has no benefit at all for most actual Londoners"
  • it is a "bribe for the election that never was"
  • and it is "a few trains from Maidenhead"
All of which will be of great interest to the London communities and businesses looking forward to the enhanced transport links and economic regeneration Crossrail will bring, who have been waiting for the project to get the go-ahead for over a decade.

I had thought George Galloway was Crossrail's only major political opponent, now I know he has found a new ally. I'm sure they'll work well together.

13 Comments:

Blogger Tom said...

An indefatigable 'axis of backwards' if there ever was one...

7:06 pm, October 10, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just a shame Crossrail deviates south, to skirt around and miss Hackney, isn't it?

Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose.

5:42 am, October 11, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

dalston dan said...
'Just a shame Crossrail deviates south, to skirt around and miss Hackney, isn't it?'

But in fact by Crossrail linking up with the extended East London Line at the Whitechapel Station (the one Galloway opposed) these new rail links will provide comprehensive rail links between the centres of greatest economic activity (the City, the West End and Canary Wharf) with the areas of greatest deprivation (such as parts of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and so on).

10:48 am, October 11, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Luke I wish I could take your word for it, but why dont you comb your ugly red hair you stupid ginger

12:27 pm, October 11, 2007

 
Blogger Jackson Jeffrey Jackson said...

Still nothing in either Crossrail or the ELL for the north of the borough.

12:46 pm, October 11, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jackson Jeffrey Jackson said...
'Still nothing in either Crossrail or the ELL for the north of the borough.'

As this helpful PDF from the Transport for London website shows, the East London Line extension provides excellent north-south links.
http://www.tfl.gov.uk/assets/downloads/East-London-Web.pdf

3:00 pm, October 11, 2007

 
Blogger Jackson Jeffrey Jackson said...

Nope, nothing there about the north of the LB of Hackney.

3:05 pm, October 11, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Brian Coleman was a governor at my secondary school.

It got put into special measures and has now been closed.

6:07 pm, October 11, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

mindthegap said...

But in fact by Crossrail linking up with the extended East London Line at the Whitechapel Station (the one Galloway opposed) these new rail links will provide comprehensive rail links between the centres of greatest economic activity (the City, the West End and Canary Wharf) with the areas of greatest deprivation (such as parts of Tower Hamlets, Hackney and so on).

I'm not sure what a " comprehensive rail link" is, are you?

I agree with Jackson Jeffrey Jackson who said: "Nope, nothing there about the north of the LB of Hackney."

Surely, if a Crossrail station had been planned in Hackney, that would also have provided "rail links between the centres of greatest economic activity with the areas of greatest deprivation."

Whitechapel is already well facilitated for transport and over-congested with passengers. Why deny Hackney a chance to grow too?

8:06 pm, October 11, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Luke, this is totally off topic. Have just been getting pissed with Rachel. We both think that Ashcroft's money is going to totally screw us over. Which would be ridiculous given that every Labour MP in a marginal has three staff. Its just a question of focus and organisation. We need a proper key seats unit which will focus resources on winning. If anyone in queen street had any sense they would realise you are the best person to head it. Powers that be please take note!

And Diane Abbot, depsite her bete noire status, has done a great job of defending Gordon on Andrew Neil's program tonight. Its a shame that Portillo is essentially right. If we had gone for an election a week earlier we would have destroyed Cameron and that other twat from Eton who is shadow chancellor.....

12:23 am, October 12, 2007

 
Blogger Luke Akehurst said...

The shadow chancellor went to St Pauls not Eton

9:10 am, October 12, 2007

 
Blogger Jackson Jeffrey Jackson said...

I thought Diane looked like she was struggling to defend Gordon from Portillo and Neil's onslaught.

And it's come to something when Michael Portillo is the only public figure I've heard making the case for inheritance tax in the last week.

9:54 am, October 12, 2007

 
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I agree with Andy's comment. We have to get back to a high and effective level of organisation.

Crossrail Line 2 (sometimes called teh Chelsea Hackney Line) deals better with connecting parts of Hackney to the tube. In many respects, Chelsea Hackney is a better scheme than Crossrail.

Crossrail though should be good news for Labour and a clear contrast to the Tories who failed to fund the scheme in the early 90s. If the project had gone ahead then, it would now be up and running. Clear evidence as to the damage that a Tory Government does to the infrastructure of our country and the positive impact of a Labour Government.

5:39 pm, October 12, 2007

 

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