Of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised for
the good of its victims may be the most
oppressive.

Via Bucks County Council:

Time running out for consultation on the future of home to school transport

There are only [8] days left for parents to have their say on the proposed changes to Buckinghamshire’s home to school transport policy, due to be implemented in September 2012. 

The changes, likely to affect the majority of secondary school pupils, would mean that transport will only be provided to the pupil’s nearest secondary school.  Under the existing policy, pupils currently receive free transport to their choice of catchment school, including grammar schools, if they live over 3 miles away from the school. If a child is from a low income family and is entitled to free school meals; a family is in receipt of maximum working tax credit; a child has special educational needs, a disability, mobility problems or is eligible on specific road safety criteria, the Council will continue to provide free home to school transport where the statutory criteria are met.

Mike Appleyard, Buckinghamshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, has already met with parents during public meetings held across the county before Christmas. A further five meetings are due to take place before the consultation ends on 31 January.

Cllr Appleyard said: “Through these meetings, I have been made aware of some specific issues that had not been fully considered when drawing up these proposals and I am now seeking solutions which will be used to form the final policy. The final policy is not a done deal and remains subject to the findings of the consultation.  I’m grateful to parents for bringing these issues to my attention and I encourage as many parents to come along to the meetings as possible.”

The new proposals will help achieve savings of £1.4m (or 10%) from the home to school transport budget, all part of the Council’s need to cut its overall spending by 50% over the next nine years. To read the proposal in full and complete the survey online visit www.buckscc.gov.uk/schooltransport

The Government has announced its decision on HS2:

The Government has decided to proceed with the development and delivery of a new national high speed rail network to provide the capacity that Britain needs to compete and grow.

I just left the Chamber after listening to the oral statement and a good number of colleagues’ questions. The mood is overwhelmingly in favour, on both sides of the House. I remain convinced of the point of view I put to the FT:

Steve Baker, MP for Wycombe, said he was unconvinced that the huge cost of the scheme was justified. “The maths doesn’t add up; this is just sinking capital into a lossmaking project. If you’re going to use the power of the state to do that, then you shouldn’t be surprised that this country is getting poorer.”

Since people often ask me and since I have asked so many questions already, I asked the Secretary of State if she had considered tunnelling the width of the Chilterns. She had: it would cost £1.2bn, which was considered unaffordable.

So the project goes ahead. In the meantime, I’m reading a brief which sets out the tale of woe which is the failure of high speed rail projects in Portugal, Spain, France, Poland, The Netherlands, Norway, Taiwan, China, the USA and  Brazil…

In 1953, the economist Ludwig von Mises wrote:

In a capitalist country the railroads and the telegraph and telephone companies pay considerable taxes. In the countries of the mixed economy, the yearly losses of these public enterprises are a heavy drain upon the nation’s purse. They are not taxpayers, but tax-eaters.

Perhaps little changes, but I should prefer value-creating infrastructure, not infrastructure which makes us poorer.

Via AGAHST:

Nearly two thirds of population opposed to money being spent on HS2

A YouGov public opinion poll has found that nearly two thirds of the public oppose money being spent on the planned £32 billion high speed rail link between London and Birmingham (HS2).

64 per cent of those surveyed in the poll (commissioned by groups opposed to HS2) believe that it is wrong to spend money on the proposed line at this time. In June this year 48 per cent of respondents to a YouGov poll for the Tax Payers’ Alliance were opposed to plans to fund what will be, per mile, the world’s most expensive railway.

Voter opposition

The latest poll found that 66 per cent of Labour’s general election voters are opposed to HS2, which was originally proposed by a Labour Government. 68 per cent of Liberal Democrat voters are against the line along with the majority of Conservative voters, 59 per cent.

North South DivideWhile supporters of HS2 believe that it will help close the North-South divide both regions are already united in their opposition to it. 62 per cent of Northern respondents; 64 per cent of those surveyed in London and 66 per cent of respondents in the South think that it is wrong to spend money on it at the current time.

Despite the Scottish Government’s enthusiasm for the line, 70 per cent of Scottish respondents are opposed to HS2, which will cost UK taxpayers £773 million in planning and consultants in the current Parliament alone. Perhaps most interestingly, respondents from the Midlands and Wales, the region that takes in Birmingham where the phase of the line will terminate, came out 64 per cent in favour of shelving spending on the project.

There has been a tremendous turnout today for the debate on fuel prices, with Rob Halfon leading, supported by Fair Fuel UK.

I am delighted so many members are today pressing for lower taxes on behalf of constituents. Fuel taxes are a scandalous cash cow for the Treasury and it is time the motorist received a fair deal. As I replied to the many constituents who first wrote to me about the campaign, a substantial, sustainable cut to fuel duty requires the elimination of the deficit plus cuts to public spending. That is a tough task, but it is right that the Treasury should stop further rises in duty and consider reductions, which might actually result in greater revenues.

Beyond that, the Government needs to explain to people that the Country’s commitment to decarbonising the economy and transport, begun by the last government, would mean profound changes to the way we travel. Just this morning in a Transport Committee seminar, we heard from three groups of witnesses who described various, sometimes crazy, uses of taxpayers’ money to encourage a move to low-carbon transport. For example, a network of recharging points is thought necessary to give people confidence to buy electric cars, even as proponents believe that network would scarcely be used. This policy agenda is risky and expensive for taxpayers. One of my colleagues described the conversation about behaviour change as “totalitarian” and of course he is right that there is today no apparent limit to the scope of government action for our own good.

Finally, I am concerned that the level and volatility of the price of oil may have as much or more to do with the Federal Reserve and Dollar debasement as to do with supply and demand. The following chart shows how the price of oil was low and stable in Dollars and gold until Bretton Woods broke down, after which it remained low and relatively stable in gold but high and volatile in Dollars.

There’s not much the British Government can do about the Fed, but we ought at least to understand the problem before trying to deal with it. Unfortunately, it does look like oil and fuel prices are way too dependent on the actions of a few wise men in the central banks.

It’s wonderful that another petition has been so well supported in debate and I look forward to hearing the Government’s response shortly.

Via Transport Committee to publish High Speed Rail report:

The Committee has agreed to publish its Tenth Report of Session 2010–12, High Speed Rail (HC 1185-I), at 00.01 am on Tuesday 8 November.

Embargoed advance PDF copies of the Report will be emailed on Monday 7 November at 8.00 am to all those who gave oral evidence.

Media representatives wishing to receive embargoed PDF copies of the document should contact Hannah Pearce: pearcehm@parliament.uk.

The Report will be available on The Stationery Office (TSO) Ltd’s website and the Committee’s website shortly after the publication hour has passed: Transport Committee Publications.

The Report may also be purchased from TSO—Tel: 08457 023474.

More details to follow when the report is released.