You’ve brought the Tube to its knees, Gordon. Now take the blame. - Evening Standard
 

On Mar 17, 3:06 pm, Tony Polson wrote:
Simon Jenkins
....is a clueless idiot.

London's transport network is approaching bankruptcy and nobody has a
clue what to do about it. A £1.4 billion hole has developed in Transport

"hasn't developed"

for London's budget of some £5 billion, largely as a result of the

"not as"

chaotic consequences of Tube privatisation. The Treasury, indisputable
father of that progeny, has disclaimed parental responsibility and told

"has not told"

the Mayor, Boris Johnson, he will have to find the money himself.

This he cannot do. He is already carrying some £3 billion of debt from
the Tube subcontractor, Metronet, which went bankrupt in 2007. He could
double Tube and bus fares, but they are already the most expensive in

"not the most"

any city in the world and passenger numbers are now falling in the
recession. He could cut buses and abort his various pledges for
Crossrail, looking a more reckless venture by the day. But this is not

"not looking"

enough, and he cannot hope to raise his council tax precept by enough to
bridge the gap.

"there are now lies"

heading for trouble. It runs the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines,
and its contract review is up this year. Since TfL is bound to impose
new service obligations under the act, Tube Lines will be able to
declare bankruptcy (or demand large new payments which London cannot
afford) and dump another mess on London's plate.

For the rest of this detailed article, go to:

"****ty article"

http://tinyurl.com/c9qgbx

Seriously, this is *deeply* embarrassing Boris spin from the *deeply*
idiotic Jenkins.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

You’ve brought the Tube to its knees, Gordon. Now take the blame. - Evening Standard
 

In message
ups.com
wrote:

On Mar 17, 3:06 pm, Tony Polson wrote:
Simon Jenkins
...is a clueless idiot.

London's transport network is approaching bankruptcy and nobody has a
clue what to do about it. A £1.4 billion hole has developed in Transport

"hasn't developed"

for London's budget of some £5 billion, largely as a result of the

"not as"

chaotic consequences of Tube privatisation. The Treasury, indisputable
father of that progeny, has disclaimed parental responsibility and told

"has not told"

the Mayor, Boris Johnson, he will have to find the money himself.

This he cannot do. He is already carrying some £3 billion of debt from
the Tube subcontractor, Metronet, which went bankrupt in 2007. He could
double Tube and bus fares, but they are already the most expensive in

"not the most"

any city in the world and passenger numbers are now falling in the
recession. He could cut buses and abort his various pledges for
Crossrail, looking a more reckless venture by the day. But this is not

"not looking"

enough, and he cannot hope to raise his council tax precept by enough to
bridge the gap.

"there are now lies"

heading for trouble. It runs the Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines,
and its contract review is up this year. Since TfL is bound to impose
new service obligations under the act, Tube Lines will be able to
declare bankruptcy (or demand large new payments which London cannot
afford) and dump another mess on London's plate.

For the rest of this detailed article, go to:

"****ty article"

http://tinyurl.com/c9qgbx

Seriously, this is *deeply* embarrassing Boris spin from the *deeply*
idiotic Jenkins.

--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org

So you think this is another case of London special pleading?

Michael Bell


--