ATOC - makes case for new railway lines

[whole diary]

[Btline]

So would you have prefered no action. That's what the Tories would have done.

Labour intervened and ACTED over Northern Rock and B&B. These actions were opposed by the Tories.... Oh look, they worked!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

just remind me... what was mr browns old job

[devon_metro]

Why should I give him credit when it means my taxes are in future going to be astronomical?

I'm already fairly outraged at the ^7.50 in NI i've had to pay this year! Thank god I don't qualify to pay tax yet. 18 soon. Joys  

A passing comment on Labour, do they not slightly resemble a Tory government?

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

i know this is going off the subject of trains... but is the government funds put into the banks put into shares? if it is if the bank then goes bust are the share holders not then liable to pay

[Btline]

Why should I give him credit when it means my taxes are in future going to be astronomical?

Taxes will be high - due to the bailing out of the banks (well the borrowing needed to do this).

however, had Brown taken the Tory route of doing nothing, the banks would have collapsed and the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) could have gone bankrupt.

I think you would have a lot more to worry about than higher taxes. Mr Brown did not cause the recession. Indeed, because of his actions, the UK is seeing as few effects as the UK could. And with the right vision and poilicies, we can come out of the recession with strength.

[devon_metro]

I'm sure what you say is true (... ) however I live in an anti Labour area and as such have no reason to think that a party who makes it easier to live on the dole and work is a good one. Why should people who are succesful pay 45% of their wages in taxes? Why are universities so expensive (isn't it free in Scotland?) etc etc

Anyway, I think that the tories aren't the big bad mean party that they once were and actually care about the future of the country. Labour seems very pro-road as far as I can see, so what makes it more like that they will invest 

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

the uk would be alot better off if contracts were awarded to british companies not other countrys which just leads to less jobs less money within the uk lower spending even less jobs and just to make things worse higher carbon footprint on your goods i good example is train construction will these be fully constructed in the uk like they used to be? we all know the answer to that

[Btline]

To be honest the Lib-Lab Con are all morphing into one. And none of them stand up to say anything anymore.

Note, one area where I favour the Tories is Europe. Lab and Lib are too Euro-friendly for my liking - why any party can associate itself with the most corrupt so called "democracy" in the Western World beats me! In fact, you can't call the EU^» (European Union - about) parliament a democracy!

So I agree with the Tories (and UKIP) about keeping the pound etc, and being Eurosceptic.

[super tm]

Why should I give him credit when it means my taxes are in future going to be astronomical?

I'm already fairly outraged at the ^7.50 in NI i've had to pay this year! Thank god I don't qualify to pay tax yet. 18 soon. Joys  

A passing comment on Labour, do they not slightly resemble a Tory government?

You pay tax at any age if you earn enough.  Age does not come into it.

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

but if you only paid that little on nat insurance im guessing that you have not yet met the tax threshold

[TerminalJunkie]

UKIP [...] Eurosceptic.

I wonder why the term 'Eurosceptic' has been applied to the likes of UKIP?

The word 'sceptic' comes from the Greek skeptomai, meaning to look about, or consider. Indeed, the modern meaning is used to describe one who questions the reliability of a claim or theory by subjecting it to a systematic investigation, and implies that you've actually bothered to think about it...

[devon_metro]

Why should I give him credit when it means my taxes are in future going to be astronomical?

I'm already fairly outraged at the ^7.50 in NI i've had to pay this year! Thank god I don't qualify to pay tax yet. 18 soon. Joys  

A passing comment on Labour, do they not slightly resemble a Tory government?

You pay tax at any age if you earn enough.  Age does not come into it.

Very true. Believe my limit is something like ^5,500 per tax year. Luckily, due to being paid weekly, the way NI and tax are working out is different. (at least I think!)

[Timmer]

Ahem! Going to step in here and draw a line under this evening's politics debate, one in which I put my hand up for making a contribution to at the start so we can get back to the topic in hand of the case for re-opening railway lines which does very much have politics at its heart but we were heading down the wrong line!

[6 OF 2 redundant adjunct of unimatrix 01]

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[Btline]

Perhaps it would be more constructive (no pun intended) for ATOC^» (Association of Train Operating Companies See - here)/NatR/NR^» (Network Rail - home page) to focus on a few key line re-openings?

Rather than a report like this which is just like "bluuuur! Here's a list of a hundred lines to open!"

It seems it hasn't been thought through, and to be honest, adding a 2 mile branch here with a PPM^‡(resolve) isn't going to do much!

However, key lines like Uckfield - Lewes, or Derby - Manchester, which can relive pressure on other main lines and remove bottlenecks (a) are more likely to be built and (b) are going to be more helpful in the short & long term!