There is a way. But is there the will?
Speech to the UK National Transport Awards, Westminster Park Plaza, 5th October 2023 Diolch yn fawr iawn / Thank you very much for inviting me here tonight to celebrate the achievements of those nominated at these 20th annual National Transport Awards. There’s a lot to say about current events, but I’ve decided not going to dwell on what’s been happening in Manchester this week. But I would like to make two points. Despite the slogan there is no longer a pretence that this Government are thinking about long-term decisions; there is no strategy, it is all tactics. And pretty grubby ones at that. The chaos over HS2 I think illustrates the point. As part of their political mitigation strategy, they have announced a 1 Billion pound initiative to electrify the north Wales rail mainline. They have clearly learnt nothing from HS2, or from the broken promise to electrify the mainline line to Swansea. Then, as now, there was no development work behind the announcement, no plan and no costin