Press release: Work underway to refurbish River Nene’s Wadenhoe Lock
Work to refurbish one of the River Nene’s busiest locks is underway, as part of the Environment Agency’s £1.4m investment into Anglian Waterways. read more
Author Archives: GovWorldMag
Resolution Foundation succinctly encapsulate hardship many across Britain are facing under the Tories – Long-Bailey
Rebecca Long-Bailey MP, Labour’s Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, commenting on the findings of the Resolution Foundation’s report on wage growth, said:
“The Resolution Foundation report succinctly encapsulates the hardship many across Britain are facing under the Tories and will continue to face in 2018.
“After seven years of Conservative economic mismanagement, the figures speak for themselves. Real wages are still lower than they were in 2010 and Britain faces a productivity crisis.
“This is not a Government willing or able to raise productivity and living standards for people in Britain.”
read moreSafer junctions and less road congestion
The Transport Secretary has rightly identified the need for more capacity on Council strategic road networks to complement the increase of capacity being achieved through the governments investment in more capacity on the national network. I am encouraging Wokingham and West Berkshire to come up with schemes and bid for cash to take advantage of this initiative.
Much of the congestion occurs at junctions. Mixed use junctions are also a place of maximum danger of accidents where cars, lorries, buses, cycles and pedestrians can get in each other’s way. The more that can be done to provide safe seperate routes for cyclists and pedestrians at main road junctions the better. The more that can be done to segregate turning traffic from traffic going straight on a main road, the safer the junction and the better the flow.
My local observations confirm my view that roundabouts usually increase capacity compared to light controlled cross roads. On the A329 Wokingham to Reading Road the busy junction with the Woosehill spine road normally flows well with a roundabout. In contrast the Winnersh crossroads, a little west of the Woosehill turning has a four way phased light set which causes traffic jams most of the day. The Earley peripheral road also flows well most of the time with a series of roundabouts . The jams occur at the main junction with the A 329 with light controls on the roundabout. This I accept is a busier junction anyway which poses additional design issues.
The best example of a roundabout scheme which has greatly improved flows and increased safety is the new junction with the A30 for the Eversley Road A 327. It should be an example for other schemes. Where roundabouts cannot be fitted light junctions need segregated right hand lanes, short phase right turn sequences, and priority phasing for the main route and flow at the junction. Where there is a main road with side roads the main road should always be green unless traffic sensors detect traffic wishing to join from the sides.
read moreAngela Rayner commenting on the Government’s recent announcement to stop no-platforming speakers
Angela Rayner MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Education, commenting on the Government’s recent announcement telling universities to stop no-platforming speakers, said:
“It is a false choice to suggest that universities are either places of free enquiry or places of safety. They can be both. Denying access to groups and individuals who incite violence and hatred is a perfectly sensible step to keep students safe from harm.
“The NUS has a ‘no-platform’ policy for a handful of racist, anti-Semitic and extremist organisations, some of which the Government itself has also banned. If Jo Johnson is opposed to that policy, he needs to be clear which of those groups he actually wants on campus. Otherwise, this so-called announcement is just another meaningless gimmick from a Government that has run out of ideas.”
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read moreLabour calls for urgent investigation into lost Government files – Jon Trickett
Jon Trickett MP, Shadow Cabinet Office Minister, commenting on reports that almost a thousand Government files detailing some of the most controversial episodes in 20th-century British history have vanished after the Government removed them from the country’s National Archives and then reported them as lost, said:
“The loss of documents about controversial periods in history is unacceptable.
“The British people deserve to know what the Government has done in their name and their loss will only fuel accusations of a cover-up.
“These important historical documents may be a great loss to history – and their disappearance must urgently be investigated.”
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