Brian Paddick:
As public transport is my only way of getting around London, I know what you mean. The problem is that the Tube and rail services were underfunded so massively by successive Tory and Labour governments that our chickens are coming home to roost in the amount of repair work now needed to be done. The failure, as Liberal Democrats predicted, of the Tube PPP hasn’t helped either.
But what I fail to understand is why the consultation between transport operators about which routes close when, and what alternative solution to offer people whose journeys will be disrupted, is so bad. Surely it’s not rocket science for all the operators to sit round one table and plan when the work will take place, and as importantly ensure that passengers can get to what they need to go as quickly as possible.
Sian Berry
The current programme of work on the tube is long overdue, but completely necessary, even if it is costing us all a fortune under a PPP we didn’t want. And, unfortunately, the fact is weekends are the best time to do this because they are the least busy days. If I’m Mayor, I’ll make it a priority to keep the works on time, so that London gets the better tube system it needs without delay, and without having to have extra weekends of closures. I will also work on getting trains to run through the night at weekends to make getting home safer.
E."Where do you stand on the suggestion from the recent Government Report that students should be encouraged to swear an oath of allegiance to Queen and Country?"
My views on education are focused on important issues such as reducing classroom sizes and making higher education available to all by abolishing fees and bringing back a proper grants system. I and the Greens do not believe children should be indoctrinated into any ideology; and this includes religion and Monarchy, so no oaths under a Green government.
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