14th March 2010

Last Thursday evening I attended a Public Meeting in Swanmead School in Ilminster, organized by the South Somerset Climate Action Group.

There was a very thought-provoking presentation by the Chair, Joe Burlington, as well as a large number of questions on a range of environmental issues.

The youngest questioner of the evening, a student at Swanmead School, managed to catch me out on the toughest question of all – what is my own estimated annual carbon usage? No MP tends to have a very low personal carbon usage, because travelling backwards and forwards to Westminster, and all over the constituency, is pretty carbon intensive.

But one way I try to keep down my own carbon usage is by travelling by train whenever I can. I took the train to Birmingham this Saturday for the Liberal Democrat Conference, and most weeks I take the train up to Westminster.

On Friday evening, I took the train to Westminster, and then a BBC car met me to take me to Oxford for BBC TV’s “Any Questions” radio programme. The other guests were Tory MP Ann Widdecombe, Secretary of State for Transport Lord Adonis, and the Editor of the Economist magazine.

With Lord Adonis on the panel, there were a lot of questions on transport – one was on the threatened strike by British Airways cabin crew, and the other was on the new proposed High Speed Rail Link, up to northern England, and on to Scotland.

This would be an expensive project, but in my view it is much needed. It would help deter many people from short trips by air, which are very carbon intensive, and it would help bring levels of rail transport up to standards which other countries have long taken for granted. And although costs are large, spending would not really start until after 2018 – and by then the current public finances mess should have been sorted out.

There is, of course, a lot of controversy about the chosen route, and the environmental impact of this. There needs to be a full inquiry into whether the chosen route is the right one, and on any actions needed to ameliorate the impact on the landscape. But if we let such matters over-ride all other considerations, we would never even have the network which we do today.

I did use my time on the radio, however, to emphasise that the high speed rail link must not be allowed to crowd out all the other rail investment.

I mentioned in the debate that on my way up to Oxford from Yeovil Junction our train had to wait for 5 minutes or so for another train to pass on a single line stretch of track. That is a farce in this day and age, especially on the main rail route from London to Exeter. This is the kind of mickey-mouse level of transport infrastructure that you would expect from a third world country – not from Britain.

This week I am back up in Westminster, and I will have to take part in 4 election debates on education with the Secretary of State, Ed Balls MP, and his Conservative Shadow, Michael Gove MP.

On Wednesday, I will again be meeting Lord Adonis, and this time I will be talking to him in detail about South West Trains’ dotty plan to axe the opening times of 24 ticket offices – including that at Crewkerne. I am very angry that we are having to re-fight this battle, after SWT’s last plans to close the office for half the week were rejected a couple of years ago.

It seems clear that SWT doesn’t give a fig for passenger concerns about losing the access and advice that the ticket office gives, and presumably the management also couldn’t care less about people having to wait on freezing platforms, which would be the consequence if offices such as Crewkerne were to close.

SWT are determined to undermine the existing staffed ticket offices, and they and other rail companies are doing this by denying access to the cheapest fares to the ticket offices – which effectively forces people to purchase tickets on-line. This is a pretty shoddy and underhand strategy.

I shall fight again very hard to try to fight off this latest threat to ticket offices,

Best wishes,

David.

PS: My next Advice Centres are in: Yeovil (Saturday 20^th March, Saturday 3^rd April), Chard (Saturday 26^th March), Ilminster and Crewkerne (27^th March). All details from my Yeovil Office on 01935 423284.