Inequality on the rise

In his autumn budget speech, George Osborne repeated a charge he had made several times before, but added a twist:

"When I presented my first spending review in 2010 and set this country on the path of living within its means, our opponents claimed that growth would be choked off, a million jobs would be lost and inequality would rise. Every single one of those predictions has proved to be completely wrong." (my italics)

I do not remember the predictions about job losses, but I do recall Labour claiming that GDP would fall (it didn't, but GDP probably does not deserve to be the totem it is anyway) and that inequality would rise. They were joined in the latter by Liberal Democrat back-benchers, who unkindly pointed out that the haves gained significantly over the have-nots during the Blair-Brown years also.

Now we have further confirmation that Osborne has not reversed the trend to inequality.

Sensation Smith of Drury Lane

I was lucky enough to enjoy browsing the specialist shelves of the Drury Lane branch before the vandals of Westminster City Council dumbed-down their libraries. Where those treasures of writing about the theatre (going back to the Restoration) are now, I have been unable to find out. I just hope that they have been kept together and are still available to curious members of the public.

Among them was a biography of a remarkable stage designer who preceded Sean Kenny by at least a generation. In the days well before CGI, "Sensation" Smith created realistic train-wrecks and shipwrecks on stage. I believe the book I read was more nearly contemporary than this one, but either would surely provide the basis for an enjoyable TV feature for BBC-4 or Channel 4.

The long grass of CP5

There was not much news, and certainly none good, at the Railfuture meeting in Bridgend yesterday. The Hendy report had been published, confirming that the extension of electrification from Cardiff through Bridgend, Port Talbot and Neath to Swansea would not begin before 2019. Indeed, the story outside the official meeting that neither the civil servants at the Department for Transport and the Treasury nor Network Rail had taken the coalition's decision seriously. Apart from Hitachi's fancy new sheds in Swansea, with attendant power gantries, there has been no preparatory work west of Cardiff. So there has been no realistic estimate of what work needs to be carried out on existing bridges and other infrastructure - except that it is known that the clearance of the last lot of signal gantries to be installed is inadequate.

Still some hope for the Swansea Bay project

Commentators have drawn pessimistic conclusions from energy minister Amber Rudd's recent pronouncements. She has proclaimed herself to be a disciple of climate change denying Nigel Lawson and has encouraged the growth of gas-powered electricity generation. The government has dropped all mention of the Swansea tidal lagoon project from its speeches and media releases.

However, Mark Leftly in the Independent holds out hope. He gives many reasons why the project should go ahead and concludes:

the probable lack of fanfare around Swansea Bay lagoon doesn’t mean the Chancellor is telling us the project is dead. Rather, the Autumn Statement has come too soon for the Government to show off a technology that could transform energy policy and become one of our most significant modern exports.

Perhaps he anticipates a big announcement at the start of the Welsh Conservatives' election campaign? I am not so hopeful. Leftly tiptoes all round the major point of contention: the strike price which TLP is asking for. The company's opening bid was for more than the Conservatives are guaranteeing the French and Chinese for the new wave of nuclear power stations. This government has closed its ears to environmental scientific advice, so I am not optimistic.

Bastiat Prize

Congratulations to Amit Varma on winning the Bastiat Prize for journalism for the second time, so far the only person to do so.

Coalition betrayed again

The rail electrification through Port Talbot and Neath to Swansea, stalled by Labour when in government, and given the green light by the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition, is one of the sacrifices made by George Osborne in his quest to meet his deficit reduction target.
Tomorrow happens to be the first meeting of the newly restructured Railfuture Cymru, after which I hope to have more detail.

Data loss from Goddard Inquiry - PM unconcerned

It was not only Spending Review day in the Commons - during which George Osborne fell back on the Gordon Brown technique of headlining unrealistic targets - but also the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women. Support for abused women needs not only money for those selected charities in the field (a faint cheer to the Chancellor for this) but also a systemic supportive approach by the police. That is not going to be helped by restrictions on police budgets; there is even a risk of losing what gains we have made in enlightened forces in England and Wales.

But what struck me most forcibly was a question to the Prime Minister by a Labour member about the loss of contributions to the Goddard Inquiry via a web site, a news item which had passed me by at the time. David Cameron seemed unconcerned about the reasons for the loss of these data. It is surely necessary to put at rest suspicions of those seeking redress from Goddard that there is not some back-office saboteur attached to it.

Darling anniversary

Heroine Grace Darling was born 200 years ago today. Without detracting from their bravery, it seems that her father was partly motivated by hopes of salvage from the Forfarshire in mounting the rescue.