! This post hasn't been updated in over a year. A lot can change in a year including my opinion and the amount of naughty words I use. There's a good chance that there's something in what's written below that someone will find objectionable. That's fine, if I tried to please everybody all of the time then I'd be a Lib Dem (remember them?) and I'm certainly not one of those. The point is, I'm not the kind of person to try and alter history in case I said something in the past that someone can use against me in the future but just remember that the person I was then isn't the person I am now nor the person I'll be in a year's time.
Not much information in the Hansard on the Draft Local Transport Bill – no dissenters, no cries of “NO MANDATE” from the opposition benches.
However, the Hansard for the bill does start thus:
Draft Local Transport Bill
The Secretary of State for Scotland (Mr. Douglas Alexander):
I am today publishing a draft Local Transport Bill, for public consultation and parliamentary pre-legislative scrutiny.
Forgive me if I’m starting to sound like a broken record but TRANSPORT IS DEVOLVED. Why is the Secretary of State for Scotland, an MP elected in Scotland, introducing a bill that only applies to England?
It will also apply to Scotland. I know it is a develved mattter, but Darling is talking about a nation wide scheme. I know you have spoken to the scottish and welsh execcutive, but Darling has said on numerous occasions than any road pricing scheme would apply to the entire UK. IT IS NOT A SOLEY ENGLISH AFFAIR.
When has he said it will apply to the whole UK? Show me.
Nationwide as far as the DfT is concerned is England-wide because the DfT doesn’t apply to the rest of the UK.