Snow way back

Excuse the rant, but really - why oh why oh why does the transport system in this country seize up at the first suggestion of cold weather? It's not as though coldness is a rarity in the UK, and yet every time the temperature plummets the railways and roads collapse.

On Friday it took me five hours to get from London to Portsmouth - I left on the 6.02pm from Victoria , which was then cancelled mid-journey as the whole Southern Trains network collapsed around me. I had to double back to Gatwick to wait for another service, which then terminated early at Havant, after a mildly alarming interlude when the guard kept announcing he didn't actually know where it was going - Portsmouth, Bognor, both or neither. A forty minute wait on a freezing platform for another train rounded off the epic experience. All accompanied by grave announcements about the 'extreme weather conditions'.

Returning to London yesterday was a similarly fun-filled expedition, with all the direct services cancelled, meaning I had to go via East Sussex, changing at Barnham (lovely quaint tea shop on the platform, by the way) and arriving several hours late for a friend's birthday.

Tonight gave me my hat-trick: An uneventful tube journey from Westminister to London Bridge, at which point the 'adverse weather conditions' again led to transport meltdown. Platforms and concourse were rammed with people, whilst the word "delayed" spread down the destination boards like a stock market crash. With no trains leaving we were shouted at to leave and the station was closed, at which point I retreated to a coffee shop for an hour. I then finally managed to get a train to Woolwich Arsenal, where General Gordon Square was crowded with frosted people waiting for buses which were failing to arrive through gridlocked traffic.

I took refuge in the Town Hall (thankfully open), and passed a bit of time doing some work in the Conservative Group room. The traffic was still barely moving an hour later, as I joined a group of council staff and Cllr. Don Austen on the steps outside, surveying the chaos (the Mayor was also stranded inside, and I suggested the conditions were apt for a local coup if we were so minded). It was soon clear nothing was going anywhere in a hurry, so with a parting shot of "If I'm not back by the New Year, call a by-election", I set off to walk through the frozen wastes to Eltham.

The pavements were horrendously slippery and I struggled to stay upright, so I can well understand how there are so many injuries in weather like this. The whole way home - Academy Road to the Shooters Hill junction, then Well Hall Road and Westmount Road, I saw just one bus, and it was out of service. I got home in one piece, but certainly didn't envy those trying to drive.

My question is WHY?! I've been to Norway, where heavy snow is not exactly unknown, and the trains keep running, and the cars keep moving. How is it that our pavements and roads turn into ice rinks, and our railways seize up? It happens every time it snows, and yet we seem unable to learn from other countries and work out where we're going wrong.

There. Rant over. Sorry.

Snowy Westminster

Well, last week's snow didn't make it to SW1, but now it's coming down fast and settling. This is the view from my office window, looking towards Westminster Abbey. Not promising for getting to a friend's party in Forest Hill tonight!

Labour says no to scrutiny by the Opposition

Wednesday's Council meeting included a motion tabled by my colleagues seeking a fairer political balance in the way Chairs of Scrutiny Panels are allocated. At present all the Chairmen of these panels, which are intended to scrutinise the executive, are held by Labour councillors. We have long felt that it would be appropriate if at least some of them were held by Opposition councillors.

I made a short speech on the subject (not short enough for some, I'm sure, as I was keeping them from mince pies in the Mayor's parlour afterwards), setting out the case for involving the opposition parties more fully in scrutiny. Many other Boroughs give the chairmanship of key scrutiny committees to the Opposition, although as the Great Leader Cllr Roberts pointed out, many Conservative Boroughs also keep these jobs for their own side.

Regardless of what others do, it should be good practice to share these positions out. They are not partisan roles, and some Labour Councillors do a good job in holding their own party to account. But as my colleague Cllr. Drury said, the problem with "critical friends" is that they may be friends, but neglect to be critical.

Eltham Wonderland!

Eltham looks very pretty this morning- shame I had to go to work and couldn't spend longer taking photos. Here are a few from my walk to the station anyway.

Greenwich Park: A fair debate

There has been renewed focus on the use of Greenwich Park for the 2012 Olympics' equestrian events, now that the planning application has been submitted to the Council. As I am not a member of the planning committee, I am free (unlike those who are) to give my view publicly.

Firstly, I think we should recognise and give credit to LOCOG for the efforts they have taken to engage with local people on the issue. They have produced regular updates, organised meetings for local people, and recently set up shop in Greenwich town centre to display their plans. Now the application is in, they have put the papers on their website, along with extensive explanatory material.

Greenwich Conservatives have wholeheartedly supported having the Games in Greenwich, and we believe being an Olympic Borough in 2012 offers many unique opportunities in terms of local jobs, tourism and a range of other benefits. We also support the principle of using the Park for these events, which will provide a magnificent setting and project the stunning beauty of the park to a worldwide audience. But our support is not a blank cheque.

Local people understandably have concerns about such a massive event taking place here, and the possible disruption that it will cause. And all those - myself included- who love the Park want to ensure it is not damaged and is accesible for as long as possible. As an opposition, we have insisted that the Council takes proper note of those concerns, and does not simply dismiss them. I know my colleague Cllr. Geoff Brighty in particular has been very active in meeting and representing residents, and both he and I have raised their concerns with LOCOG and with the Council on a number of occasions. I also wrote to Mayor Boris Johnson earlier this year to seek his commitment to protecting the Park, which he gave.

The strong local feeling was clearly the reason the plans were substantially altered to reduce the need for lengthy closures, to move the cross-country part of the course away from the flower garden, and so on. These were very positive improvements which we welcomed, but they are not the end of the story.

Now the period of formal consultation is open, I will be seeking detailed views from local people on the plans, and am willing to present those views to the committee myself if needed. I hope very much that the public debate, including in the media, will be conducted sensibly, and with honesty. I have been rather concerned by some of inaccurate information that has been repeated in the media and by some campaigners against the use of the Park, and this serves no-one's interests. Let's have a debate, but a fair one.

UPDATE: (Weds, 13.16) The battle on the issue over at greenwich.co.uk has become rather personal. As I put it on Twitter, calm down dears!

Labour's election budget

So now we know what Labour's masterplan for winning the next election is - a shameless return to the class war, soaking the rich and helping the poor. Right?

Well, that's what they wanted us to think. The clumsy (and probably ineffective) raid on banker's bonuses, combined with the uprating of pensions and er, cutting bingo tax, were supposed to be what caught the media and public's attention this morning. Sadly for Labour, we're not completely stupid, so this morning's headlines actually looked more like this:

The papers were able to see immediately what everyone else will now realise: Not only have Labour failed to get a grip on the nation's finances and are continuing to rack up our crippling debt, but they are now targetting ordinary people on modest and low incomes to pay for this recklessness. The rise in National Insurance hits all workers earning over £20,000 - not exactly rich fat cats. It is that -more than the other dodgy tricks (like uprating benefits for an election year only, before cutting them back) - which will anger people most.

All credit to the Conservatives' campaign team for getting this poster out so quickly last night, which sums it up perfectly:

Backdrop to the Pre-Budget Report

Whatever rabbits Alistair Darling attempts to conjure up this afternoon, CCHQ's stunt last night reminds us all of the reality of the situtation the country finds itself in.

Changing Trains

A very timely poster campaign has made an appearance recently. Tonight I saw the above message 'It's Time for change' on several billboards on Woolwich Arsenal station. Not an early attack by the Conservatives, but an advert from Southern rail about their new timetable. Let's hope the message gets through to local voters, anyway. It's certainly amusing to think Labour councillors will have to see it on their way to the Town Hall.

UPDATE: Oops - It's SouthEastern Rail, not Southern, and the poster is plastered all over their website (see below)!

Flood: Could it happen here?
The floods in Cumbria have been absolutely dreadful, with the tragic loss of policeman Bill Barker, and millions of pounds of damage. Down here in London it may all seem a little remote , but should act as another warning to us. Just imagine the devastation and loss of life if a flood of that scale were to hit the Capital.

In fact, you don't need to imagine it - there is a film which dramatises just such an eventuality. 2007's 'Flood' was not exactly a box office hit, and suffers from some seriously dodgy acting and dramatic licence, but is worth seeking out. It stars Robert Carlyle and David Suchet, and concerns the nightmare flooding scenario for London - a storm surge in the North Sea moving into the Thames Estuary and coinciding with a spring tide. This would overwhelm the Thames Barrier and cause massive flooding across a wide area.

The special effects in the film are impressive (see picture above of Greenwich Park in the film), and unlike many disaster movies the basic premise is perfectly possible, and a real threat. It is adapted from a novel by Richard Doyle, who has a website explaining the facts behind it, which I recommend looking at.

In Greenwich I was a member of a Council Scrutiny Review committee a couple of years ago which looked at our emergency planning arrangements. Some of the evidence we looked at was sobering - arrangements for field hospitals, mortuaries and so on - and some of it slightly alarming. The truth is that we can never be 100% prepared for every eventuality, but we can do our best to put the right systems in place. I recall we uncovered a potential flaw in the mechanism for mobilising Council staff in an emergency, which I trust has now been addressed.

However we simply didn't have the time or resources to conduct a fundamental review of all areas of preparedness, and I really think it's something which local authorities and the GLA (which has responsibility through the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority) should give a higher priority. Given our position on the Thames, and with the Barrier based here, the flooding nightmare is one which we should take particularly seriously.