Tuesday: national and local newspapers report that the number of carriages on some high-speed rail services in Kent has been reduced because of low demand. This comes as no surprise to North Kent commuters, who were only too well aware that High Speed 1 was too expensive and delivered travellers to St Pancras, nowhere near most places of work. (As Private Eye commented earlier in the year, it was a service introduced to fill spare capacity rather than meet demand.) Nor is it a surprise to Medway Council, which lobbied fiercely against accompanying cutbacks to well-used services into Victoria. I suspect that among those who held an opinion on the matter, the residents of commuter towns such as Gillingham and Rainham were unanimous in their opposition to the plans. Alas, the local MP passed up a rare opportunity to represent his constituents' view on a matter that was particularly pertinent to them, and voted with the Government in support of the cutbacks.
Thursday: outside Rainham station in rush hour stands an election campaigner. Can you guess for which candidate he was canvassing?
None other than Paul Clark, MP, of course. Private Eye would be proud.
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