Archive for November 2016

Cambridge to Oxford ‘Varsity’ Train Line back on track

November 26, 2016 Transport Comments Off on Cambridge to Oxford ‘Varsity’ Train Line back on track

Calls to reintroduce the Cambridge to Oxford Train Line, known at the ‘Varsity Line’ received a boost this week. In the Chancellors statement he announced that the Government would provide £110m of funding for an east-west rail link between Oxford and Cambridge. Of this £100m would be spent accelerating the building of Western Section, which includes the Bedford – Oxford and Milton Keynes to Aylesbury lines.

Then the remaining £10m would be used to identify a preferred route for the line to extend east of Bedford, via Sandy, to Cambridge.

east_central_west_schematic_hi-res-600x287

 

The Chancellor, Philip Hammond MP said, philip-hammond“This project can be more than just a transport link. It can become a transformational tech-corridor, drawing on the world-class research strengths of our two best-known universities.”

The original ‘Varsity’ line to Sandy was closed in 1967. Sadly reopening old route is not possible as the line was dismantled and used for other purposes including the Ryle radio telescope array and housing for instance.Ryletelescope

Aside from the economics and boosting this high tech corridor, the concept of any resident being able to travel from Cambridge to Oxford in an hour has to be an exciting one. I for one look forward to the day when this vision is realised, and sooner rather than later. This is now a deliverable scheme and every effort must be made for it to become reality as soon as possible.

Trump win – how Clinton lost the election in the final week

November 11, 2016 USA 2016 Comments Off on Trump win – how Clinton lost the election in the final week

trumprally2Close elections can be won and lost in the final week depending on which candidate has the stronger finish.

But I hear you cry: Clinton spent more, had bigger names and celebrities supporting the campaign.

Let me explain. Electors want to see a candidate working hard and a campaign that is not complacent. So we need to examine this in several parts:

trump4The Candidate: Donald Trump in the final week was crisscrossing states with four to six appearances a day. Hilary Clinton was making one or two appearances. Trump raised this by mocking Clinton making a speech ‘and then taking a nap’.

clinton2Naming your opponent: The cardinal rule is you do not name your opponent, yet the
Clinton campaign did this throughout the campaign including the branded slogan ‘Love Trumps Hate’. Never give your opponent the oxygen of publicity. This gives your opponent a greater focus in electors minds whilst detracting from your campaigns closing messages.

Closing Messages: At the end of the map2campaign you want to relentlessly push a few key messages. Trump really pushed controlling immigration (the wall) and bringing back jobs (reducing business taxes / changing NAFTA). Clintons message was mainly naming her opponent as I covered above.

Creating an urgency to vote: Watching the left wing political pundits in the media and many associated with the Clinton campaign gave the impression that they were going to win, did you hear the constant references to Trumps ‘narrow path’ ‘mountain to climb’. This may have lulled Democrat voters into a false sense of security. Whilst Trump said in his speeches ‘you’ve gotta go vote’ ‘this could be your last chance’.

clintonFocus on the candidate: Clinton had many celebrities supporting her. On the face of this, that sounded good. However it was problematic for two reasons. One the media coverage focused on the celebrities rather than theandidate. Second it detracted from the candidate and the message.

The combination of these factors meant that Trump won against the prevailing expectation in the media and of opinion polls.

 

Expanding the dream of home ownership

November 5, 2016 Housing Comments Off on Expanding the dream of home ownership

indexSpeak to any Member of Parliament or Councillor and they will tell you one of the biggest issues in their in tray of residents trying to get onto the housing ladder.

Expanding this dream to the many must be a priority in our nation. The Government has a stated ambition to create one million more HTBhomeowners and to help have doubled the housing budget to more than £20 billion over the next five years coupled with the
the largest house building programme by any government since the 1970s.

This includes:
(1) Delivering 400,000 new affordable home homesstarts by 2020. We have doubled the housing budget.                                 (2) Extending Right to Buy to housing associations tenants – ending the unfairness that allowed only council tenants to use Right to Buy. Housing associations have committed to provide an additional home for each property sold under Right to Buy on a one-for-one basis.
HTB2(3) Granted automatic planning permission in principle for brownfield sites and councils
have a duty to allocate land for homes for 20,000 custom and self-built homes a year by 2020.

(4) Launching London Help to Buy and Help to Buy: ISAs – helping people save towards their first home. Allows Londoners to buy a home with just a 5 per cent deposit.
(5) £3 billion Home Building Fund to help build more homes. Offering direct support for those who cannot access financing in the market. £1 billion of short term loan funding will be for small builders and custom builders, delivering 25,000 homes this Parliament and £2 billion of long term funding will be for infrastructure and large sites, unlocking a pipe line of up to 200,000 homes over the longer term.

This strategy will go a long way to boosting the housing supply that the previous Labour Government seemed unable to do, with housing delivery at certain points being the lowest since the 1920’s.

It is right that everything is done to ensure those wanting to get on the housing ladder can.