Congestion Charge Debate – Labour running out of arguments

The Conservative Policy Forum has carried out polling in Manchester regarding the Congestion Charging plans, and also hosted an excellent public debate. I was very glad that the other two candidates for the main parties in the city centre attended and contributed as part of the panel. One thing was certain however, that Labour cannot make the arguments for the charge and the huge amount of debt that it wants the city to take on.

This remained Labour’s main argument at the debate, however this is baseless as Birmingham City Council have decided after extensive consultation that they will be applying for more money than Manchester, but WITHOUT the element of congestion charging.

 Nobody anywhere is arguing that Manchester doesn’t need better public transport, and needs funding for it. However what we argue is that the two things are separate. Give the money to improve the trams, roads, buses and then lets think about a congestion charge. Also, nobody ever mentions bikes in this debate in general, where is the cycling policy!? I imagine its of very little interest to the Labour council, because cyclists aren’t going to make them any money.

 The main problem I have is that the charging plans are purely a mechanism to pay back the debt that the Labour Council wants to take on. The primary problem of course was the Labour government removing the funding for Metrolink in the first place – without that, if the other 4 lines fot the metro had been built as they should have been, we wouldn’t be in this position today. The government is wasting vast amounts on money, and imposing inadequate settlements on councils that they are forced to think about desperate measures.

Technology always makes fools of politicians, and you have to ask how long it will be before greener technology will mean that the charge will apply to green efficient cars as well as polluting ones. This is where the green argument falls down, why not just tax the most polluting cars so that they’re taxed off the road. As cars become greener and therefore exempt, the revenue falls and the loan will not be re-payed by this method. Some say 5 years some say 10 for the big changes to car technology – the loan repayments will last 30 years. The recent episode with Salford council comes to mind – they agreed a deal with the BBC Philharmonic to pay £20 million subsidy for them to work in Salford, to be paid from a government grant that was then taken away. They are tied into the pledge, and now it will be paid either from council tax, or from a fund intended to fund improvements in deprived areas. Having the orchestra will be fantastic for Salford, however the council has been let down by the government, and tax payers left footing the bill.

 The Lib Dems don’t really have arguments for or against, but make a concerted effort as usual to park themselves firmly on the fence so as to try to appeal to everyone – they want public transport, have doubts about bits of the plans but support it too. The one solid thing confirmed for us that evening was that they support national road pricing.

 I’ll try to summarise the main points

• Labour insist it’s not possible to submit a bid for transport funding without the congestion charge – not true. Birmingham’s Conservative led council is doing so.

• The charging plans are purely a mechanism to fund the repayment of the debt. 75% of people would rather that the council used some of its £7 billion asset in the airport instead of borrowing £1.8 billion

• The London charge doesn’t make money. It only makes money on the fines. The Manchester system works differently so that it won’t have the same capacity to fine people, as it will work on a microchip tracking system

• The loan repayment period is so long, aside from the fact all the arcitects of this plan will have retired well before it’s repayed, technology will have changed more quickly and made a mockery of the plans to tax un-green cars. After the 30 years, the revenue from the charge goes to central government, so Manchester doesn’t benefit beyond the initial injection fo cash at the very start

• If Birmingham borrows money, it will use a system of some kind of targeted rates to repay the loan, something it has more control over and certainty about

• Studies have shown that congestion charges take non-essential journeys off the roads. This means drivers with no choice driving to work simply have to pay. People driving to shop, or to a concert or the theatre don’t travel and the arts and retail suffer as a result. In London 92% of retailers say the congestion charge has been bad for business

• Even if you support the London charge, the situation here is very different, The charging area is bigger, the plans far more complex, the potential for loss of financial data is huge based on recent experience, the infrastructure already exists in London but not in Manchester.

The only argument Labour has remains that if you want better public transport you have to have a congestion charge. They haven’t been able to make the argument that Manchester needs a congestion charge for the purpose of a congestion charge, their only defence is to link it to transport funding and hope for the best. Its a weak patronising argument, and the people of Manchester deserve better.

Piccadilly Gardens fenced off again

Piccadilly Gardens is having work done on it again. I’m beginning to loose count of how many times this has happened now, its fenced off so that people can’t walk on the turf, and also as always happens, the litter bins are stuck the wrong side of the fencing – I know that’s a simple thing, but it’s just an irritating example of the lack of fitness for purpose that the gardens seem to have taken on in recent times. 

I know the gardens may be better than it was, but this is mainly because of the increased comerical use immediately inside the gardens, I use it nearly every day. However ‘better than before’ simply isn’t good enough for Manchester, and the more we tell ourselves that it will do the more we degrade our great city and lock ourselves into a mediocre future. Its simply not good enough, and in the future it will all have to be re-done again if the area wants greater credability and stature.

 The other issue is the waste of money. I’ve ceased to get replies about how much money has been spent on re-turfing the gardens. The last overhaul was £380,000. The council made £5million from the sale of our public land, however the private developer then made £75 million from the sale of the building their created (an off the peg design with an identical one in Birmingham) It was public land, what did we get out of it – we get to pick up the bill for the continuing failure of the project. Exchange gardens I like a lot more (next to Urbis) however this is having the same problem with the turf…….

Phil Woolas’ comments on ‘inbred Pakistanis’ went un-checked and largley without comment. Can you imagine if a Conservative MP had made such comments, it would have been national news that the Conservatives were racists, what on earth has happened to the liberal elements in the Labour party?

The following letter from myself was published in the Oldham Evening Chronicle

New Labour has made the extraordinary decision to place the politics of religious identity at the centre of public discourse, in the same sort of way that Jorg Haider’s Freedom Party does in Austria. Phil Woolas’ comments about ‘inbred Pakistanis’ is just the latest in a long line of anti-Muslim comments from this New Labour MP in an attempt to court the BNP vote in his constituency. New Labour, perhaps because they are the left wing party, feel there are immune from the upholding the liberal ideals of our society simply because of the traditional perception of their party as being liberal.  However all deals are off when it comes to cynical concerns about winning votes, and there could be no clearer indication that they are no longer the home of progressive politics. 

 

New Labour’s foreign policy misadventures of course have led to some acceptance of Isalamaphobia. If Phil Woolas had genuine health concerns, why has he not met with Imams in his constituency and voiced his concerns in a sensitive and thoughtful way? Instead, his announcements via the media are simply designed to wrest the BNP vote on the misunderstanding that it’s purely about race, and religion. People vote BNP for many reasons, but at the root of it people are concerned about loosing out to new groups of immigrants, a fear stoked by insufficient financial settlements on local government by New Labour so that immigration stretches services. People vote BNP because they are concerned about loosing out on jobs to immigrants, and they vote for an extreme right-wing party to make a point that they feel New Labour has failed when it comes to law and order. This is also clearly linked to the fact that Oldham’s Labour run council has been rated the worst performing and least fiscally responsible in Greater Manchester. Employment, opportunity, law and order and funding services are the issues that need addressing. Phil Woolas’ comments about inbreeding in the Muslim community leading to ‘physical defects’ is nothing short of the Nazi propaganda illustrating Jews as deformed, dwarf and physically inferior as depicted in their posters and propaganda films.

 

We are proud to represent a party whose leader, David Cameron,  has made it a primary concern to separate Islam from concern over terror, foreign policy, and to insist on moderate sensitive language and to engage with Muslim leaders to forge a stronger society. The thought that playing to the Islamaphobic BNP vote is a way to stay in power is seriously flawed politics, and shows fundamental misunderstanding of the real problems these communities, white and Asian, face today.

 Rob Adlard, Chairman of Manchester Conservatives

Friends of Sackville Gardens

Last nght I attended the first meeting of a new Freinds of Sackville Park group. The aims of the group were discussed and constitution talked about.

 I passed on requests from residents and businesses around the gardens for better lighting actually within the park to help address issues of antisocial behaviour, and to increase usage from residents of the neighbourhood. The attendance of this group was very low, so please get involved. The next meeting will be in early May where there will be election of officers to the group and discussions of funding streams and residents desires for the progress of the park. To get involved please email friendsofsackvillegardens@hotmail.com

NHS waiting lists longer under New Labour

It has been shown that in 1997 the average wait for operations was 41 days, but today the average waiting time is 49 days. Doctors have expressed concerns that people with serious conditions are waiting longer. After the vast amount of money spent by Labour on the NHS, it is once again proved that its obsession with ideology over service, and the spending of vast sums cannot guarantee a better health service for the country. Conservatives in the meantime have pledged to not only create in independent health service so that the focus is on delivery of care, but also to increase spending on the NHS.