This is brilliant, Richard - and, to get a reply! Thanks so much.
SUMMARY
Top priority for change, in my opinion: stopping, throughout the region, highly extravagant, very expensive, LR and VLR tram rollouts and the Sprint bus that thinks it's a tram. All this should come before insulating and solar powering our leaky, energy hungry housing stock. For, you then have the money and staff to work on it and, with no redundancies.
Really, what I am pleading for is a sensible set of priorities for us to campaign on. Stop the wrong funding first and, then divert the staff and funds to the right, sensible priority and funding.
OR,
When our nice Emperor Andy has no clothes, tell him first. Then, explain clothes are needed and must be bought!
OR,
Stop the ecocidal rush to the cliff edge, first. Then start doing what Chris Skidmore MP advises in his over 300 pages report and do what Chris Stark, CEO and John Gummer of the Climate Change Committee wants.
AND,
Stop the insane business as usual destruction, demolition, rebuilding, re-demolition, rebuilding first. Turn round and face in the opposite direction. Next, spend our finite resources in cutting GHG in the medium to long term by doing our Nine Action Points.
MORE DETAIL
The scandal I have exposed is the obvious destruction of two mainline railways and two and a quarter mainline stations for unnecessary "bus on rails" Metro trams. I think this is wrong, foolish and incompetent. Especially, when 106 Kms of double track mainline railways in our region are still without passenger trains and stations! Do you agree, Richard that this is clear wrong doing, negligence and the most weird and wonderful, truly eccentric priorities that simply accelerate the climate emergency and failing life support systems?
This has gone on since 1981, too. Actually, it is 70 years of tram and train destruction in the W Mids. And, it continues to this day with the Dudley Tram (WBHE Phase 2) wrecking Nature, public open space, wasted housing land and my guerrilla garden. It is a totally unnecessary spending of billions of pounds to speed climate breakdown and the exhaustion of finite resources. All courtesy of W Mids Comedy Authority. Do you agree, Richard?
Failing to build warmer homes and to upgrade the existing housing stock has gone on since 1982 when Paul Lewis published his plans. This idiocy is negligence and folly but has not involved the enormous sums of money involved in deliberately acting to destroy first the tram network in the 50s, then one third of the train network in subsequent decades with, from the 80s, rebuilding the tram network on what was left of the railway network. Extraordinary madness from, supposedly, intelligent people!
This is just not unsustainable transport but the most idiotic unsustainable transport imaginable, that even a child could see and understand! None of this is controversial, as you wrote, Richard, is it? And getting rid of one HS2 extension and one Metro extension on the Kings Heath/Moseley railway were both achieved by us campaigners. Stopping WBHE Phase 2 (Dudley Tram) is urgent and possible if only many more people would help me to kick up an almighty fuss.
It was brilliant to hear from you. Thanks for replying with your thoughts.
Tim
Tim, in your latest email you have addressed 18 questions to me personally. Your method of haranguing is not the most effective way of inviting a discussion.
I also think it bizarre that you have chosen to send your series of demands that I personally answer your questions to 3 of your local MPs.
In answer to your question…”Stopping the funding of extensions of HS2 (we won in stopping the E arm to Leeds), Metro and Sprint is the FIRST and most BASIC step towards addressing the climate emergency and getting funding for insulation, retrofitting and solar powering homes. Do you acknowledge that, Richard? Why do you disagree?”
I agree with stopping the funding of HS2 and the Metro (I don’t know enough about the argument about Sprint). But I do not agree that we should link it in the way you do to retrofit as the method of solving the retrofit funding crisis, for two reasons. First, because support for a big increase in retrofit funding, which would be pretty well universal among the local communities if they were properly informed about it, should not be dependent on their support for your transport demands, which would be more controversial. Secondly, because getting rid of HS2 and the Metro is highly unlikely, and to make it a precondition for retrofit funding would in effect block a big increase in retrofit funding, which is urgently needed and more feasible to achieve.
A final point. You say:
“Richard, do you believe in the power of persuasion? Of a rational, cogent set of facts and arguments being put to someone in the hope that they might understand and then give their point of view in reply?
Is political education part of your vocabulary? Is dialogue and discussion to try and reach mutual understanding and consensus something you can go along with, Richard?
Therefore, would you please join me in engaging in polite, pleasant conversation with senior officers and members of the seven constituent and non-constituent authorities of the CA?”
I believe that engaging in what I’d hope is some sort of dialogue with those in power is a vital part of our strategic arsenal. In that I disagree with some currents in the climate movement. But unlike some others I recognise that local government is structured and constrained by the neoliberal policies of the Conservative government and the capitalist interests they serve, and mass popular pressure is needed to challenge those, not just argument, however rational and cogent.
Richard
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