Lib Dems – Hypocrisy from on high

It is rare for me to be taken aback by anything the Lib Dems say or do. I’m not sure their is anything they won’t do if they see a vote at the end of it or some credit to grab from someone else. But, I did have some hope that at the top of the party something good might exist.

Remember, the Lib Dems have lots of pet projects, normally all about saving the planet, and completely out of touch with reality. Without listing them all the recent decision by the Lib Dems in Cambridge not to support the A14 upgrade because it won’t be good for Cambridge is an example. They don’t like cars, so no road upgrade. A pet project. They would also like me to employ teams of people to manage cycling rather than looking after our elderly.

So reading about Nick Clegg claiming it is Labour and the Conservatives with pet projects is rich.

“The Times reports that Nick Clegg will use a speech today to criticise the Conservatives for wasting millions of pounds on “vanity projects” in a warning to his coalition partners that they will be targeted in the forthcoming council elections. “Despite all their stated differences, a vote for Labour or the Tories will be a vote for the same thing,” Mr Clegg is expected to say. “Their record in local government shows that even when millions of families are feeling the pinch, they’ll both squander taxpayers’ money on waste, inefficiency and their own vanity projects.”
The Times, Page: 13″

I often wonder why all parties claim that ” no one likes a Lib Dem”. I think it is because they would like to be seen as a nice party but are without any moral compass what so ever. The sooner they are finished the better.

The election campaign so far

So, a brief reflection on progress so far. County wide, I seem to have flushed out both Labour and the Lib Dems into producing a manifesto. I have it on good authority that the Lib Dems were not going to produce one intending just to complain and protest about everything we are getting on with.

It is important that people see what party’s stand for not just what they oppose.

So what can I glean from the manifesto fest. Pretty much as expected in truth.

The Conservatives are focused on getting things done. We want less talk and more action. We want a businesslike approach to running the county. We put protecting the vulnerable and promoting the economy at the top of our priority list.

The Lib Dems want to cover everywhere with subsidised wind farms and photovoltaic cells. They want to sell Shire Hall sometime in the future, with the consequences of having to build a shiney new HQ as we don’t have any other buildings capable of holding everyone and the council chamber.

They want to spend lots of additional revenue budget on pet projects with no thought to the future or the savings required next year and the year after. Selling capital assets to fund revenue projects is bad economics as Gordon Brown found when he sold our gold reserves at an all time low price.

Lib Dms want to stop investing in jobs and affordable housing in our new town of Northstowe. They oppose the upgrade to the A14 although they are trying very hard not to actually say that because they know it will cost hem votes.

Labour want to be nice to everyone and spend money everywhere but have not explained how they would pay for anything. Nothing new I guess.

In my division I have had a lot of really supportive comments and not just from Conservatives. It seems our get on with attitude is very welcome amongst the electorate.

In terms of the candidates it is always helpful that in addition to Labour and the Lib Dems a Green is standing. Greens are always likely to split the left of center votes. A double bonus is that UKIP have not put up anyone against me, probably safe in the knowledge that I am a Eurosceptic.

I’m happy to trade with Europe but not be ruled by them.

Lib Dem manifesto has turned up – my initial thoughts

It’s good to see a Lib Dem manifesto. I have been asking to see it ever since Lib Dem Councillor Brooks – Gordon tweeted she was at the launch some time ago. Privately, one Lib Dem told me recently that they did not actually have a manifesto and as nobody read the last one it wasn’t worth doing.

It seems they have been stirred into action – very good.

Having had a quick read of the manifesto it is clearly the Lib Dem alternative budget topped and tailed but with some interesting alterations. It is good that they are trying to come up with some different policies to give the electorate a choice.

Distilling it down it seems that they want to spend lots more from the year on year revenue budget, even though we are going to have to reduce it yet further by £29m next year and the year after and try and fund it through selling of assets.

They have attempted to say how they will fund all the spending but lots of holes are obvious.

For example, a vote catching provision of an hourly train service from Wisbech to Cambridge and London sounds attractive. But, no mention of the many millions it would cost and no reflection on its viability. How much are they promising?

They want to spend more on pavements. I’m guessing that is on top of the £90m of extra money we have already put in place for roads and pavements. The £2.5m they are proposing has to be paid for.

They want to spend an extra £5m a year on bus subsidies that don’t work and result in empty buses trundling around the county at huge cost to the tax payer.

The want to build another underpass for Ely rather than the bypass that the people of Ely want. Now lets look at that suggestion. The current underpass gets driven into on a regular asks resulting in the line being closed whilst it is checked for structural integrity. Why would we build a second one? And then of course digging a bigger, deeper underpass on a flood plain makes sense doesn’t it? Hmm.

The Lib Dems are spinning like a top on the A14 upgrade. At full council they refused to support the current scheme against the wishes of their own leader Nick Clegg. In the manifesto they claim to support improvements but do not support increased capacity. I guess if you cycle everywhere and get on trains and never drive anywhere this ignorance could be excused. But come on. How many people have to die on that road before the Lib Dems put to one side their ideological dislike of cars and do the right thing. No amount of fiddling with junctions or painting lines on the current road will be enough. The road needs widening!!!!!!!!

Interestingly, the manifesto says they ” strongly support the need for Northstowe, yet just a few weeks ago in their alternative budget they proposed withdrawing the £25m of planned funding. Where did that go in the manifesto?

Throughout the manifesto it is littered with guided busway comments. What they don’t seem to say is what they would do about it except moan. Where are the positive comments about how successful it has been? I though they liked buses. What ever the outcome of the contractual dispute it still has to be dealt with not just moaning about it.

They want to spend more on street lighting but don’t say how much.

They want a stop gap solution to waste disposal but don’t say what or at what cost.

They want to improve primary schools but don’t say how or what they would spend.

They want to create more nursery places but don’t say how much they want to spend.

They want to spend more on mental health but don’t say how much.

They want to spend more on youth services but don’t say how much.

They want to spend more on gritting but don’t say how much.

They want to spend more on community librarians but don’t say how much.

They want to spend more on the music service but don’t say how much.

They want to invest in wind farms and solar panels. These are costed but very unwelcome by people in Cambridgeshire who believe have done their bit. I guess if you live in a city it is very unlikely that a wind farm will be built near you.

On a final point. I understand Cambridge very well having lived and traded here for many years. I regularly meet with business leaders and CEOs of our most successful companies as well as those aspiring to greatness. I meet with university leaders regularly and spend a lot of my time helping to attract inward investment.

They are all telling me that the business focused approach that we are taking at the county council is not just welcomed but is seen as essential to help drive the economy forward. They also tell me that the inability of the Lib Dem city council to make any decision let alone the right one is a constant source of frustration.

In summary, a set of unfunded pet projects, that would all have to be cancelled when next years further savings of £29m have to be made. Free tip. Never mix capital and revenue when putting budgets in place. A sure recipe for a short term warm feeling followed by disaster.

Horningsea to get toucan crossing at A14/b1047 interchange

When I was campaigning four years ago the cycleway from Fen Ditton to Horningsea was high on my list of things to get done.

Happily, this was created a couple of years ago and has been well Used. However, the money ran out before a solution was put in to help cyclists and walkers to cross the busy A14 slip road off the B1047.

Having kept up the pressure I am pleased to see the money is now available to make this a much safer route.

Conservative manifesto for the County Council elections 2013

Can be found here?

http://www.cambsconservatives.com/manifesto-2013/

It seems, at the moment, that it is the only manifesto from any party that can be seen.

A14 – local MP view

Last week on BBC radio Cambridgeshire I listened to Julian Huppert being asked if he supported the A14 upgrade. He failed to answer the question despite being repeatedly asked.

Given his own party leader, Nick Clegg supports the upgrade, and Julian claims to support business in Cambridge what is going on? I would have thought that the local Cambridge Lib Dem MP ought to have a greater breadth of vision and publically support the vital upgrade to the A14 whatever his own views on cars might be.

Come on Julian, show some leadership and support the A14 upgrade in the way the other local Conservative MPs are doing.

Nick Clegg supports A14 upgrade – transcribed by The New Listener

17:08 Thursday 22nd November 2012
Drive BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

CHRIS MANN: One of the big concerns, and you’ll know this as an ex-Cambridge man yourself, one of the big concerns here of course is getting around the problems with the motorway system, and the A14 and so on. Might some of this money go to the A14? Or is that something separate?

NICK CLEGG: It’s something separate, but we’ve already said, back in November of last year, so exactly a year ago, that we will make a commitment now to increase capacity on the A14. And you’re right. Without that increased capacity on the A14, only a small number of houses in Northstowe could be built. So the two things very much go hand in hand. And it’s certainly a point that Julian Huppert has been making to me for a long period of time, which is that when you plan for new homes and new construction in an area as beautiful as Cambridge and the outlying areas, north Cambridge, you’ve got to do so in a way which is properly supported by adequate transport infrastructure. And that’s exactly what we’ve sought to do with our support for the A14 expansion.

BBC interview talking about the transport including the A14 – transcribed by The New Listener

08:20 Wednesday 27th March 2013
Bigger Breakfast Show
BBC Radio Cambridgeshire

PAUL STAINTON: Fifty years ago the Beeching Report was released, massive cuts to lines, massive cuts to jobs. It begs the question, are we suffering for it now, as our roads struggle with the weight of traffic. And could expensive projects like the Guided Bus and the proposed A14 upgrade have been avoided if Beeching had never happened? And even if the need is there, can our train companies provide a financially viable service?

Nick Clarke is the Leader of Cambridgeshire County Council. Morning Nick.

NICK CLARKE: Good morning Paul.

PAUL STAINTON: Do you wish Beeching had never been born?

NICK CLARKE: Not at all. His report was a report of its time. He looked at the viability of the rail network, and clearly a lot of it wasn’t viable. We can’t expect the rest of Government and taxpayers to subsidise industries that weren’t meeting the needs of the people. And at the time there was a great shift, individuals wanting to drive cars, and they had to build roads for them. So you can understand how it happened. But we’re now in a position of looking forward, so we’re putting in place at the County Council a number of initiatives, lots of them to support rail as it turns out. As you’re well aware, the recent announcement of improving the Kings Dyke crossing at Whittlesea. We’re looking at the Wisbech rail station, and the one in Soham, and of course we’ve already made the announcements of the new station in Cambridge. So it’s about having a mixture of transport, and of course the one we can’t avoid talking about is the Busway, the Guided Busway, and that’s been a tremendous success.

PAUL STAINTON: Would we have needed it though Nick if we’d had some of these railway lines? We’re reaping what we sowed back in the day, because all this traffic is there for a reason. There are no railways.

NICK CLARKE: We have to look at the original point of it (which) is to move people around from and to where they want to go at the times they want to go. The Guided Busway at the moment for example is running five minute services. It’s beyond belief that anybody would run a train service to that regularity. I think when we looked at the studies at best we’d get a twenty minute service. And even then the viability, it’s difficult. And what we need is a flexible transport system which is what we’ve got in place for the Guided Busway. We’ve got 4 million people have used it. It’s a success by any measure. And it’s not costing us now, our operating costs, anything from the public purse. So we’re not subsidising it. That’s the key to this, if it needs to be sustainable, which it is. But the real one I’ve got to worry about at the moment is the A14. We’re leading a coalition at the County Council of local authorities who are all prepared to put some money in to bring that forward, and that’s the model the Government is proposing. But I’m getting some worrying signs that Cambridge City Council are now hesitating whether they’re going to contribute to that. And if that were to be the case, that would have a real problem for the sort of coalition of people who are prepared to fund this.

PAUL STAINTON: So the City Council have yet to commit their bit.

NICK CLARKE: They haven’t committed, and probably worse than that, the mood music is that they may not. So I’m really concerned about that. I’ve been spending an awful lot of time working with them recently.

PAUL STAINTON: Are they struggling to see what benefit it might bring? Surely it’s there in black and white, isn’t it?

NICK CLARKE: Well that would be my view, but yes, that’s exactly the point. I think they are struggling to see what the benefits would bring to Cambridge. But if I can’t convince the people of Cambridge that they need the A14 upgrading, how on earth can I convince Norfolk and Suffolk, Essex and all the rest to contribute?

PAUL STAINTON: What happens if they don’t commit? How much are we talking about here?

NICK CLARKE: Well I’m not sure it’s the quantum that’s the problem. It’s that the Government is insisting on a local contribution, as it’s insisting on tolling. I don’t like tolling. I don’t want to be contributing locally either. But that’s the deal on the table, and of course if we don’t pull that off, then there are plenty other counties up and down the country with road schemes that would take the Government’s right arm off. So this is about coming together to contribute, and what we’re talking about with these contributions of course is providing a slice of the benefit for the road upgrade. And Cambridge has got to benefit from that. We’ve seen AstraZeneca coming here. I’ve had correspondence from a number of very significant business leaders saying we have to have the A14 upgrade. The Local Enterprise Partnership has put £50 million on the table, and they’re doing that because they know that business needs the A14 upgrading, and without it, business is going to stall. And I don’t think it’s a case of, oh well, if it doesn’t get upgraded we won’t improve. I think if we don’t upgrade the A14, we will go backwards. And that’s not acceptable.

PAUL STAINTON: What would your message be then to Cambridge City Council, and the people that are delivering the mood music at the moment?

NICK CLARKE: Well I’ve given my message very clearly. I think it’s now time for the people of Cambridgeshire and Cambridge to let the City Council know how they feel about it. Because we politicians have a duty to respond to the people who we represent, and I think we need to let them know.

A14 upgrade – some background information

This is a multi-modal approach which means not just one type of transport will fix the problem. The improvements will include:

• Additional Public Transport Services between Huntingdon and Cambridge, including extra park and ride

• Additional capacity to Felixtstowe to Nuneaton rail route to provide more capacity for transfer of freight

• Major upgrading of A14 strategic route with local access roads between Girton and Huntingdon, removal of Huntingdon viaduct. A new southern bypass to Huntingdon.

• The main A14 route from Girton to Brampton would be tolled, but it would be a very modest toll which is unlikely to encourage transfer to local roads.

• Provision to travel on local roads with no tolling.

• Tolling would be by ANPR /open road tolling, ie no toll plazas.

• The Cambridge Northern Bypass would be widened by one lane in each direction between Girton and Milton only and it would not be tolled because it acts as a distributor road for Cambridge as well as a bypass.

• Whilst there would be increases in volumes of traffic on the outskirts of the City serving the new developments between 2011 and 2031, the overall effect of is likely to be reduced car travel within Cambridge as traffic would not try to avoid the A14 as at present. The Part 3 Study has concluded that the net effect of the total scheme would be to reduce traffic on key Cambridge radial roads by about 2%.

• There is likely to be some marginal increase in emissions on the Cambridge Northern Bypass due to free running traffic, in the centre of the City there should be some reduction in NO2 emissions.

• Although there has been major growth in the City since 1993, the demand management and planning measures that the City and County have pursued since then have meant that the daily volume of traffic entering the City has not grown since 1996 and traffic volumes in the centre have declined by 22%.

• The excessive daily congestion and incidents, due to there being more traffic on A14 than it was designed for, encourage some regular Cambridge bound traffic to avoid the use of the A14 if possible. This is thought to be quite widespread and means traffic would not be taking best advantage of the A14 and M11 as distributor roads and in effect travelling further within the City than it needs to.

• There is reputational damage to the City from the constant poor traffic conditions on the A14.

Future Traffic in Cambridge

• Over the period 2011-2031 there will be extra traffic on City Roads due to the planned future growth in the City.

• Given that fact, there is the need for the Local Authorities to continue to manage demand as they have with their current policies.

• With the current A14 Study proposals, modelling of the direct effect of the improvement scheme indicates there will be a reduction of about 2% in traffic in the City.

• This is very broadly consistent with the modelling of the cancelled scheme.

• Further detailed modelling is needed on the new scheme to finalise the likely impact.

• Given the extra traffic capacity and the lack of tolling on the Cambridge Northern Bypass, it is most unlikely that traffic would divert into the City because of the A14 improvement scheme.

UKIP duck the A14 motion

Interestingly, a bit like most of the votes in Europe, our own UKIP councillor Peter Reeve ducked out of the chamber at the time of the vote on the A14.

He stayed long enough to speak, claiming the upgrade was too important for politics, before launching into a long UKIP party political broadcast.

Then he disappeared and has not been seen since, also missing the second debate.