Coalition backs 16 road and bus improvement schemes

vanman · 26-10-2010, 18:03

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11630252

Quote:

But the government has said it is committed to spending Â£30bn on critical national infrastructure in an effort to stimulate growth and has pledged to protect funding for a number of high profile transport projects including Crossrail and Tube upgrades in London and a new Mersey Gateway road bridge near Runcorn.

so the uk has lots of cash to spend on roads.

Taf · 26-10-2010, 18:38

Quote:

congestion-reduction measures on the M4 and M5 north of Bristol and the A23 in Sussex

I wonder what that could mean?

**Chris** · 26-10-2010, 18:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-11630252so the uk has lots of cash to spend on roads.

We have a huge overdraft but we're not bankrupt. The Government's job is to spend less overall, not to spend nothing. The aim is to use the national resources wisely - one of those wise uses is to spend it on projects that are likely to help the economy to recover. Transport projects can help stimulate an economy, provided they're well chosen and planned and efficiently built.

vanman · 26-10-2010, 19:19

yes i understand the theory.
but to build roads and cut back the police/health care/new schools ect
does not seem right to me.

26-10-2010, 19:28

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

yes i understand the theory.
but to build roads and cut back the police/health care/new schools ect
does not seem right to me.

It is possible to cut back on expenditure of services and still maintain the same level of service .Getting rid of non critical staff for example ,re negotiating contracts ,there are plenty of ways

vanman · 26-10-2010, 19:47

by putting people on the dole, yer ok.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...yside-11625222

Quote:

About 1,000 jobs could be lost at Sefton Council in Merseyside in the wake of the Spending Review.

superbiatch · 26-10-2010, 19:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

by putting people on the doe, yer ok.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...yside-11625222

Looks like my dad will be one of those, oh well he's 60 so i don't suppose he'll find work again now

On a good note, the Runcorn/Widnes gateway project is very much needed and has been put off for many years. I have spent lots of hours sat in jams trying to get into my office.

Hom3r · 26-10-2010, 20:00

I'm glad the final stretch of the A11 will get the dual lane it badly needs.

vanman · 26-10-2010, 20:07

sounds to me that you are more concerned how quick YOU can get from a to b.
rather than the fact that the gov are spending Â£30bn on the black stuff

superbiatch · 26-10-2010, 20:12

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

sounds to me that you are more concerned how quick YOU can get from a to b.
rather than the fact that the gov are spending Â£30bn on the black stuff

I'm more concerned about getting to work on time - in the NHS. If I'm not there appointments are missed so i suppose yeah i am being selfish in an unselfish way if that makes any sense

**Hugh** · 26-10-2010, 20:32

So - they cut things, they're barstewards.

They spend on things, they're irresponsible.

btw, there's a lot of chaff being spread - "could's" and "might's"; it's awful if it happens to anyone (it's happened to me in the past), but it doesn't help spreading gloom and despondency, and it's very important to know the difference between being "at risk" and being redundant.

Osem · 26-10-2010, 20:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

So - they cut things, they're barstewards.

They spend on things, they're irresponsible.

Yup and I dare say there are a lot of jobs involved in all that 'wasted' spending on roads etc. - both directly and indirectly. Still we wouldn't want to give HMG any brownie points would we? Nah, let's just pretend their entire raison d'etre is to destroy UK PLC.....

vanman · 26-10-2010, 20:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hugh

So - they cut things, they're barstewards.

They spend on things, they're irresponsible.

no the point is cut the road works and spend it on police/schools and health care

Ignitionnet · 26-10-2010, 22:02

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

no the point is cut the road works and spend it on police/schools and health care

These aren't 'road works' they are investments in infrastructure that will help the country to stay competitive and produce the income that will both pay off our debts and provide the money to invest in better services.

It's imperative that these investments are made, without them we're deeply in the excrement. It's not a nice decision but it had to be made.

---------- Post added at 23:02 ---------- Previous post was at 22:49 ----------

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

yes i understand the theory.
but to build roads and cut back the police/health care/new schools ect
does not seem right to me.

It may not seem right to you but there are few options. It's not ideal but at the end of the day absolutely no-one else has given a viable solution. Infrastructure investments aren't an option they are the only option.

What else would you suggest is done?

Labour are stubbornly refusing to offer any plans of their own of any detail, constantly backtracking on previous comments as is politically expedient.

The Green party's plan to cut nothing, increase environmental spending and to increase taxes to make it up which will never work as we'll have no-one here to pay the taxes - firms would move elsewhere and anyone mobile will be off like a whippet.

The unions want zero redundancies or cuts and for the economy to 'grow' its' way out of deficit by which time the country will have been downgraded by credit reference agencies, quite rightly, and accumulated more debt pushing interest payments through the roof.

Cut deeply now or cut incredibly deeply later. Things we cannot cut are the infrastructure projects that will assist with supplying the growth that we need to help us as a nation out of this hole.

Public spending is being dropped as a percentage of the economy back to 2006-2007 levels. This is not some wild west time when we as a country were a destitute wasteland. The police will be fine so long as they stop obsessing over statistics and PR and do as the home secretary instructed them and police. Health is protected. The schools budget is protected, some elements of the education budget as a whole are being reduced however the majority of school construction continues.

For all the nasty Tories crap this lot are the most liberal Conservatives we've ever had by a mile. Not speaking to you personally but the sooner some get their heads out of their backsides and stop pretending they live in a socialist paradise where you pay your (not that high) taxes and the state does everything for you rather than what the UK actually is - a modern, capitalist democracy heavily reliant on an extremely mobile work force, international corporations and financial institutions for our tax income - the better. Squeeze them too hard for taxes to pay for public services you lose 100% of what you would be getting, that's how it is.

**Maggy** · 27-10-2010, 00:50

Quote:

Originally Posted by vanman

sounds to me that you are more concerned how quick YOU can get from a to b.
rather than the fact that the gov are spending Â£30bn on the black stuff

Isn't everyone who is trying to get to work,deliver goods,mail.Working roads can only keep business busy and get everyone to the schools,hospitals,fires.Poor roads means everything slows down

Having said that I wish they would reconsider turning Newgate Lane into a dual carriage way so that this town wasn't gridlocked three times a day.