Why I've Been Away

Well, that and having a part-time job. And Facebook. And general disorganisation.

And a long list of excuses.

Welcome back!

The Evening Stanners

Kemble to Swindon Line to be Re-Doubled

Where the current line singles off, just south of Kemble station

Amidst all the budget waffling that occurred this week, there was one very good piece of news for my home county of Gloucestershire: namely, that the money has been found to re-double the stretch of line between Kemble (Gloucestershire) and Swindon (Wiltshire).

The work will see the doubling of a 12.5 mile stretch between Kemble and Swindon

First, a bit of history. Kemble used to be an important railway junction, with two branch lines going to Cirencester and Tetbury. However, these disappeared in the mid '60's, and the line between Kemble and Swindon was singled in 1968. The rest of the line would have been singled as well, but after realising a decent diversionary route was needed for trains running between Cardiff and Swindon, they left it at that.

Indeed, it's mainly because of Cardiff that the line is now being re-doubled: the electrification programme between London, Cardiff, Bristol, Bath and Oxford means that the Severn Tunnel will have to be shut for a long period of time. During the closure, all Cardiff trains would have to run via Kemble and Swindon, which means the whole route needs to be double-track in order to cope.

Stroud MP Neil Carmichael with First Great Western and Network Rail managers at Stroud Station

No-one's quite sure when the work will start (probably by next year), but it will definitely be finished by March 2014. This will hopefully see two trains per hour, with one between London and Cheltenham Spa, and the other a shuttle service from Swindon to Cheltenham. It should also see journey times significantly reduced as well, and with new bi-mode trains to be introduced (which can run on both electrified and non-electrified lines), it's welcome news for Gloucestershire railway users.

Moreton-in-Marsh station: a train to Oxford waits at the platform

There will also be improvements for commuters in North Gloucestershire as the redoubling of the Cotswold Line gathers pace. New platforms at three of the stations (Honeybourne, Ascott-Under-Wychwood and Charlbury) are being built, and the line is being doubled between Moreton-in-Marsh and Evesham, as well as between Ascott-Under-Wychwood and Charlbury. Work should be complete by August 2011.

We'll have to see what other improvements will be made in the coming months - with only nine to speak of, Gloucestershire could do with some more stations - but this week's budget was definitely a step in the right direction.

The Evening Stanners

I go Ice Shuffling, And Alan Johnson Comes Down With A Bump

So. Ice skating.

It's INSANE. How do people manage to glide around so effortlessly? Apart from practising for hours on end, obviously. I was getting the hang of it by the end of the session, but still: this would explain why we idolise Torville & Dean so much. If you can do something well when it looks impossible to many, then you clearly have talent.

Sadly, a similar task lay in store for Alan Johnson when he became Shadow Chancellor last October, but he was skating on thin ice from the start. (You're fired - Ed.)

Hands up if you're surprised by this news

Johnson was relatively affable and a well-known face, but a politician who is not in control of their brief will find things difficult at the best of times. It is a great shame that personal issues have brought his career to a shuddering halt, and is something you would not wish on your worst enemy. That said, you wouldn't wish the rumours about him on Twitter on your worst enemy, but that hasn't stopped some. Personally, I was surprised at anyone that he resigned, but after his surprise absence from PMQs yesterday, perhaps it was more obvious than I thought.

So, will Ed Balls, his replacement as Shadow Chancellor, give Osborne a run for his money (or rather ours)? He certainly has a better knowledge of economics, and Osborne will find his questions harder to deflect. But whilst it might be tempting to mercilessly attack the Government's policy, voters showed in their rejection of Gordon Brown that a big clunking fist does not always get the desired results. Ed Balls now has the brief he wants: the key to Labour's success is to not let it go to his head.

The Evening Stanners

Prime Minister's Questions

My MP (as in the one I work for) had the first question at PMQs today, which doesn't happen often! You can listen to it here.

For those of you who'd rather not listen to MPs shouting their heads off, here's the question (and answer in full):

Q1. [34265] Andrew George (St Ives) (LD): If he will list his official engagements for Wednesday 19 January.

The Prime Minister (Mr David Cameron): This morning I had meetings with ministerial colleagues and others. In addition to my duties in the House, I shall have further such meetings later today.

Andrew George: The NHS is facing massive reorganisation, while at the same time seeking the greatest savings in its 62-year history. Respected professional medical bodies warn about the risks to public service of giving private companies the easy pickings. Before pursuing that gamble will the Prime Minister reflect carefully, informed by clinicians and the coalition programme that we agreed last May?

The Prime Minister: We will listen very carefully to the professionals, but the reason for making modernisation of the NHS such a priority is simply that this country now has European levels of health spending but does not have European levels of success in our health service. Of course, what we want is a level playing field for other organisations to come into the NHS. What we will not have is what we had from Labour, which was a rigged market.

Thanks for reading,

The Evening Stanners

(P.S. Apologies once more for the gaps between updates: it's been very busy of late! I shall be going ice skating this evening, so hopefully I'll be able to tell you all about that tomorrow, barring any injuries I sustain.)

Widespread Surprise As Union Leader Denounces Cuts

Any idea who this man is? Until today, I didn't either: but after hearing his name on the radio, I have subsequently found out quite a lot about Mr Len McLuskey, leader of the Unite union. For one thing, he's been a trade union activist for most of his career. He was also heavily involved in the British Airways strikes that occurred earlier this year. And, perhaps unsurprisingly, he's belligerently left-wing. Put these facts together and what have you got? A letter to the Guardian, that's what:

"Britain's students have certainly put the trade union movement on the spot. Their mass protests against the tuition fees increase have refreshed the political parts a hundred debates, conferences and resolutions could not reach.

We know the vast rise in tuition fees is only the down payment on the Con-Dem package of cuts, charges and job losses to make us pay for the bankers' crisis. The magnificent students' movement urgently needs to find a wider echo if the government is to be stopped.

The response of trade unions will now be critical. While it is easy to dismiss "general strike now" rhetoric from the usual quarters, we have to be preparing for battle. It is our responsibility not just to our members but to the wider society that we defend our welfare state and our industrial future against this unprecedented assault."

Preparing for battle? It would appear that McLuskey's advocating violence, as it were. Supposedly Ed should be shouting for Osborne's head on a stick at PMQs and prodding Camilla with a stick in order to get us out of this mess? Of course not: violence solves nothing, and has the unhelpful effect of alienating those who would otherwise side with you. But let's move on to the integral part of this letter...

"A key part must be a rejection of the need for cuts. "What do we want? Fewer cuts later on", is not a slogan to set the blood coursing.

So I hope Ed Miliband is going to continue his welcome course of drawing a line under Labour's Blairite past, in particular by leaving behind the devotion to City orthodoxy, which still finds its echo in some frontbench pronouncements that meet the coalition's cuts programme halfway at the least."

Right. I see. Dear Mr McLuskey, are you Arthur Scargill in disguise? Are you seriously suggesting that overthrowing the Government with widespread strikes will somehow make us more stable as a country? Even the Guardian's editorial thinks you've lost the plot. More to the point, Ed Miliband has subsequently come out and denounced your "overblown rhetoric" as "wrong and unhelpful". He might as well have said, "Stop trying to make me look bad, I'm trying to write a Policy Review here".

So, poor old McLuskey, in a desperate bid to influence the Labour Party's policy on cuts, has simply been left looking rather silly. Maybe he should go on strike until someone takes him seriously...

The Evening Stanners

Labour Need To Smarten Up

Is this, dear readers, what the Labour Party has been reduced to in recent weeks? It would appear so. Yesterday in the House of Commons, a Labour MP decided that what the public really wanted to see a discussion on was the dress code of MPs.

The most controversial issue in Parliament?

According to BBC News, "Thomas Docherty, new MP for Dunfermline and West Fife, raised a point of order suggesting several MPs had been spotted wearing denim in the House.

Later he told the BBC the point had been "semi-serious" but some women MPs had been "rocking up in a mixture of denim and knee length boots".

Deputy Speaker Dawn Primarolo said all MPs knew they should dress smartly.

MPs laughed as she suggested Mr Docherty speak to those concerned directly, adding 'I'm sure they would welcome it'."

The scandal of some coalition MPs, eh? First they hike tuition fees, now they're wearing denim. Clearly we need Labour to stand up to these fashion criminals before the country goes to the wall!

Or, perhaps more helpfully, they could start drawing up some policies. After all, if the Tories can come up with something like this notebook for Christmas, the signs aren't good...

Why a notebook, I hear you cry? Bascially, it all stems from Ed Miliband saying that Labour were going to start with "a blank sheet of paper". Perhaps not the best phrase to have used in hindsight, because the Tories have gone for it like footballers go for scandalous affairs, and are actually selling this to their members as a 204-page notebook for a fiver. The joke being: it's blank.

Admittedly, I've heard better political jokes in my time, but the Tories may well have a point. Apart from proposing the graduate tax as an alternative to higher tuition fees, and rambling about "the squeezed middle", Ed is a man who appears to be big on Clegg-bashing but small on policy. Indeed, for someone who wrote the Labour manifesto, he's having difficulties coming up with new ideas: Labour's Policy Review remains unwritten.

The more pressing issue, however, is that Cameron is having a much easier time against Miliband than he was against Brown, who didn't even get voted leader by his party. Ed frequently tries to score points by painting himself as progressive, but the truth is he can't lay a finger on Cameron at present, and is frequently heckled into a state of confusion and irritation: Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday 1st December being the best example so far. What's more, some progressive bloggers are already damning his current strategy. If he's not careful, the confusion may spread throughout his party: but for now, he appears to be safe. Whether he can win the next election, however, is open to serious debate.

The Evening Stanners

Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol

One thing I do get asked about my internship is, "Are there any perks?". Well, every now and then an event comes up that my MP isn't able to make. In this instance, it's quite common for staff to be allowed to go instead: unless it's expressly for MP's of course, or if the event is particularly snazzy. So whilst I do occasionally get to meet someone like Bill Bryson (famous travel writer, for those not in the know), the chances of me meeting someone like the Queen are somewhat remote. (Besides, my fellow FECCLES alumni, Edd Insley, has already beaten me to that particular anecdote: some people get all the luck, don't they?)

A good example of such an event is the one I went to last night at the BBC TV Centre: the premiere of the Doctor Who Christmas Special. Obviously I can't give too much away (or make you go green with envy about meeting Matt Smith, because he wasn't there), but it's certainly worth making space for on Christmas Day! Suffice to say it went very well and that quite a few MPs enjoyed it (MPs being fans of Doctor Who? Is that allowed? - Ed). Also, I appear to still have the security wristband on from yesterday. Hmm.

A warning to anyone who wants to work in the BBC TV Centre, by the way: make sure you've got a good sense of direction, or you may be lost for a week. Rather like when Jeremy Clarkson tried to navigate his way round the building in a very small car, with hilarious results.

Thanks for reading,

The Evening Stanners

PS Oh go on then, one tiny spoiler alert for you: sharks.