HS2? Mebyon Kernow advocates rebuilding and strengthening of the wider rail network

Mebyon Kernow, Cornwall’s progressive left-of-centre party, is striving to build a confident and outward-looking Cornwall with the power to take the decisions directly affecting the people of Cornwall, locally. Its policies are founded on three core values:

• Prosperity for all
• Social justice
• Environmental protection

Cornwall has its own distinct identity, language and heritage. As one of the four nations inhabiting the British mainland, Cornwall has the same right to self-determination as England, Scotland and Wales. Mebyon Kernow (MK) is leading the campaign for the creation of a National Assembly for Cornwall, with the necessary powers to unlock Cornwall’s true potential.

One of the issues covered in the latest edition of Cornish Nation magazine (no 82) is HS2, the proposed high-speed rail link

Under the heading Fair transport investment, MK has challenged the decision of the government to give the go-ahead to HS2, the proposed high-speed rail link between London and the Midlands/north of England.

About ten years ago, the project was projected to cost £32.2 billion, but by 2015 this had risen to £56 billion. It is presently estimated that it will cost £106 billion.

Party leader Cllr Dick Cole (below right) said (20.2.20):

“Looking at it all from a Cornish perspective, the present trip between Birmingham and London takes the same time as a journey from Penzance to Liskeard. In terms of the proposed HS2 times, someone would be able to get from the Midlands to London just as quick as someone could get from Penzance to St Austell.

“I am usually a strong supporter of an improved public transport network, but I really do struggle with the whole concept of HS2. I feel central government should instead prioritise the rebuilding and strengthening of the wider rail network decimated by Beeching’s cuts in the 1960s.

“There are also growing complaints that too many of the proposed new jobs will be in London and the UK is still in the process of spending £40 billion on its Crossrail project between Heathrow Airport and the Canary Wharf financial district.

“The UK Government is spending so much money on projects such as HS2 and Crossrail, it will mean that less money is spent in places such as Cornwall. That is why I believe there needs to be an ongoing year-on-year audit of capital expenditure across all the parts of the UK, in order to ensure parity of investment.”

 

 

 

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Rewards for failure 34: accountancy firm KPMG

Despite the blow to its reputation from the collapse of its major audit client Carillion in January, the FT reported yesterday that accountancy firm KPMG’s revenues in the UK are rising at their fastest rate for a decade. Its sternly criticised auditing of Carillion is not the only ‘reputational setback’ in the UK and overseas over the past 18 months:

• In South Africa, it has lost audit clients and faced serious criticism over its work for the billionaire Gupta family over the past two decades.
• It has also become embroiled in a scandal in the US after it emerged the firm was tipped off about forthcoming regulatory inspections by staff it had hired from the US accounting watchdog.
• Meanwhile the UK accounting regulator has launched two investigations of KPMG’s work this year, including its audit of outsourcer Carillion
• and of Conviviality, the drinks supplier.

The Financial Reporting Council is also investigating KPMG’s work for:

• car manufacturer Rolls-Royce;
• mattress firm Silent Night;
• US financial services group BNY Mellon;
• the Co-operative Bank;
• and insurer Equity Syndicate Management.

In the face of these investigations, it is amazing to read in the FT report today that KPMG has just been appointed to investigate the delays and cost increases on the Crossrail scheme.

 

 

 

 

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