Paphos Life

I'm afraid the Prime Minister has made a big mistake regarding HS 2. It is not his fault, the problem goes back at least two decades, probably more.

The basic problem is that no thought has been given to the Scottish central lowlands. After the Shinkansen and the French TGV no thought in the UK was given to high-speed rail. It is completely idiotic not to have planned something like the TGV, more or less at the same time. This should have been planned from London to Edinburgh (capital city) and Glasgow. It could have been done the way Germany, Italy, Spain have done theirs. We should be enjoying 300 km/h travel between the two capitals with offshoots to other important centres at 200 or 250 km/h.

Look at the number of planes that fly from around London to the central lowlands of Scotland every day. Think of the vast amount of aviation fluid could be saved because, city to city, it would be quicker than city to airport to airport to city. What a waste!

Even worse, the proposed HS network as it stands is far from state-of-the-art. Even the Chinese have an immense high-speed network at 300 km/h.

The UK needs to politicians with vision. The current plans mirror the current government is hopeless and both should be scrapped and replaced with something that has at least a small chance of working. And not just working, but working fast. If you gave the London to Edinburgh high-speed contract to the Chinese, it will cost less than HS two, work better and faster, probably in service by 2026, with branches to Birmingham, Coventry, Manchester and Liverpool. Yes, I am pie in the sky dreaming about what we should do knowing it would never happen.

Devil

So much tax payers money has been wasted over the years, on different projects that never saw completion. So nothing new there. The people who actually reside, and/or have businesses north of Birmingham, need fast rail links to different areas, but I won't hold my breath.

The true problems that Britain faces are, on the whole, ignored by government, oh yes, they make the right noises, promises, etc, but actually, DO nothing. The old fairy story no longer begins with, 'once upon a time', but, 'if you vote for me, I promise'.

What are the true problems that Britain faces?

I was there a while ago. The biggest problem I saw were the potholes. They were everywhere.

Indeed Dominic, the potholes are dreadful, (but far from our biggest problem), as are the 'on going roadworks', causing havoc on major roads and motorways, which, for whatever reason, never seem to be completed. But then, if you observe said roadworks, not often do you see anyone actually working on them, maybe a few stood around speaking on phones, or talking together is the usual sight.

Illegal immigrants, is another problem which never seems to be resolved, large hotels being obtained by the government to house them now, why? Still they come in droves, with no letup. Why aren't they being processed and dealt with accordingly, or better still, just returned from whence they came. Many large UK towns have our own living rough on the streets, some even veterans, which is quite frankly a disgrace, why aren't we housing them.

The NHS is on it's knees, not enough cash in the pot to work effectively. Abused by a lot of people.

All and sundry work forces going on strike, why, they don't gain public sympathy by inconveniencing the public. We would all like more money, but speaking as a pensioner, there isn't much that I can do to improve my income, but I have to put up with the effects of these strikes.

Our local councils pay out thousands of tax payers money in NDAs. How do they get away with that? and what are they hiding? It's not just central government that wastes tax payers money, but our local government also.

I could go on, but it's gets tiresome, but you did ask!

Even the potholes can serve a useful purpose; as motorists despair, they can be driven to a high speed rail network, such as I outlined in my first post above.