Originally Posted by
griff
What O/T politics thread? Sure you’re on the right board, mate?
Anyway, situations like this need to be described as “national” to get the Government’s interest and persuade them to drop a few crumbs from the table. The problems in Yorkshire join those in previous years in the English regions; remember the Somerset levels, Lake District/C*ockermouth/Carlisle - twice - and lower level incidents in Lancashire and southern Scotland? A few millions get spent on barriers then it happens again a few years later. The English regions SUFFER but are always left as the poor relations. Why is London always top of the per capita spending figures for England? It should enjoy massive economy of scale which keeps costs down but London is always top of that list going back 50 years. That means that of the taxes that I pay, more is spent in London than on my own region. The same for most of you too.
It’s time that the Government spent massively on upriver schemes to hold water back but they won’t because it’s expensive in the short-term and dealing with landowners is difficult. HS2 anyone? They haven’t found it difficult there and the money seems to be readily available for what is, at the end of the day and in its current form, an expensive way of getting people from Birmingham to London more quickly. Problems with transport? Let’s spend billions on a big hole under London, despite already having one of the best bus, taxi, tube and overground rail networks in the world. Chance of flooding? Billions spent on a barrier. You see my point
It’s time for the government, whatever its political makeup after the election, to concentrate on other parts of the country. Scotland already has its Barnett formula and the English regions need something similar. If a political party made a firm undertaking to do this I’d vote for them. At the very least there should be a promise that per capita spending in London will be no greater than the average of the other English regions.
How’s that for an O/T political thread?