Published: Thursday, 4th February, 2010 10:00am
Labour grandee at Reading Station
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FORMER Labour leader Lord Kinnock is in Reading this evening (Thursday).
The former EU Commissioner is visiting Reading Station at 5pm to find out more about the redevelopment work going on there.
Reading East Labour candidate Anneliese Dodds will join him and they will encourage passengers to sign a petition pledging their support for the station upgrade.
For a full report of the event, see next week's Reading Chronicle
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Colin Lee
(Unregistered User)
Feb 6 10 18:58
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How sad is this: politics has come to mediocrity and crass spin? I thought that the station upgrade was a done deal. Is there an admission that the public have significant reservations? Why else bring in the iconic figure of Neil Kinnock to encourage passengers to support it? I am sure that Lord Kinnock has better things to do than to hand out leaflets and to be photographed holding a placard with local Labour parliamentary candidates.
What also has not escaped my attention is that British Airport Authorities (BAA) was hoping to announce that a new rail line from Terminal 5 linking to Reading had been approved and that a public inquiry would secure the necessary land. Instead they announced the typical railway call - there is a delay. It appears that many towns on this route have deep concerns over the impact of this line to their economy and to road congestion and this has triggered a review. Reading appears to have never been consulted, and yet the line impacts on us hugely; probably more so than these towns and villages. What lurks in the proposal which directly links the town to polluting air routes to Europe? They are as ethereal as Reading’s Transport Infrastructure bid. We have not been consulted.
When politicians arm themselves with spin doctors you know that there is something to hide. When they come not to hold democratic debate but to seek support for a scheme carried in sound bytes, then you know they have not made the case. Transport in Reading is one such example and here is the hallmark of its Machiavellian approach. How sad is that? How honourable that the town is kept in the dark?
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