As my earlier post’s wishful thinking suggested, it seems that issues being kicked in to the long grass is going to be a more common theme than anyone could have hoped for. The infamous road pricing scheme looks set to be kicked in to the long grass for now. Not because one and half million people have wasted their time signing an e-petition – a tool used to make it feel like we’re entering in to the democratic process, but is actually a way of shutting us up. No, the latest weapon against introducing road charging is the incompetence of the government itself.
The Transport Committee has given its backing to the road pricing scheme. But do not fear - they have cited the Department for Transport's “lack of leadership and coherent thinking” as the main obstacle to actually implementing the scheme. In response a DfT spokesman said the department had invested a record £13.5bn in the British transport network over the year, but admitted there was "much still to do". £13.5bn and there is still much to do! – a lack of leadership and coherent thinking indeed.