First duty of local and regional government should be to defend the interests of the poor and not the rich elite, like them who can well look after themselves.

 30 August 2018

I was at the Halesowen Global Justice Group meeting yesterday and mentioned the hundreds of millions going into tram extensions and Sprint bus routes.  For me, this is a local justice issue of morality and of right governance by our well meaning councillors, MPs and MEPs - and party members.

There is a desperate need for modest sized, highly insulated homes for families and singles in bed and breakfast and other 'temporary' accommodation.

There are many brownfield sites in our borough that I have found and listed where low carbon, more suitable housing and apartments should be going.

Therefore, the first duty of local and regional government should be to defend the interests of the poor and not the rich elite, like them who can well look after themselves.

Instead, these councillors, MPs and MEPs see their top priority, is to provide prestigious, grossly extravagant and wasteful Metro tram and Sprint bus schemes on the back of the billions going into HS2.

These people see their top priority to provide free car parking for two hours at all council car parks.  Low income families do not have cars.  Google tells me that 24% of UK households do not have even one car.

Our local and regional politicians see another top priority is to spend many hundreds of millions of pounds on immorally expensive tram extensions and Sprint buses - Metro's little sister or the bus that thinks it's a tram.

Low income families need existing buses that have free fares.  Over 60s like me have had them for over ten years.  The money from scrapping tram extensions and Sprint buses should be used to give everyone free bus travel with bus lanes and traffic lights priority to speed them on their way at the expense of car commuters.

There would still be money left over for electric buses to replace diesel buses and to give us all healthier and cleaner air.

Instead, these hopeless politicians only want grandiose, vanity projects to project style over substance.

The money from the Clean Air Zone charges from 2020 should be going into these ordinary bus priority measures, too.  This would free up road space for car users who really do need their cars for their businesses by getting car commuters bussed into work.  One double decker can take 70 single occupancy commuter cars off the road.

At Merry Hill, the other week, I actually saw a double decker bus with 'STAFF BUS' emblazoned on its front.  Brilliant!

Our way below par politicians are happy to preside over bus routes being cut and a slow but steady decline in their use as we all think car and never bus - let alone bike!

PLEASE write a sentence or two about all these shenanigans to the people in the 'To' field, above that are getting this.