The Guardian leans left but it keeps any bias, or commentary, to the opinion columns. They're also, crucially, not politically aligned to any one party and are more than happy to give Labour / Green / Lib Dem a full going over, no punches held back.
It’s not just as simple to say build more prisons. No one wants a prison built around the corner from them, just like no one wants a new railway or road built through their back garden.
My argument is that it needs to be a higher priority. Of course you can't build a prison in a few weeks but any government should be prioritizing the safety of its citizens and if that means removing people from the streets for an amount of time then so be it. And to do that you need prison space. The point is that this government and the last one don't appear to show signs that they are taking it seriously. Personally I would be announcing that new prisons are in the process of being put in place and that it will be done as soon as possible. I would probably just have a new prison just for knife offenders and let it be known that anyone found carrying a knife (unless for work) will receive 5 years in prison and get that knocked on the head straight away. Too many crazies out there at the moment just doing what they want. Divert the funds from areas that are less of a priority, like HS2 for one. Use the land to build much needed houses and also to build prisons. Sell the rest of it to gain funds. There are ways to get things done but no-one in government has the inclination or the balls.
Because we're a pathetic country that thinks it's a good idea to try to send everyone to Uni to get a degree instead of encouraging people into trades via apprenticeships etc. Basically everything's broken and whoever gets into government is too scared to upset the applecart. It's just managed decline at this point and those in power are just happy to pick up their pay-checks and the more lucrative 'side-hustles'. Keep the gravy train rolling along and sod the plebs.
Radio 4 in the night on the world service, and it has been reported in the (too) extensive coverage in the good old Guardian online and in I newspaper in print.
But new train lines are also needed, our existing ones are full and we need to get cars off the road. Build the railway and ban internal flights in the UK, maybe then spare airport land can be used.
Public safety is more important than space on trains or roads. It's the number one priority (or should clearly be). Let's be honest. HS2 is and has always been a waste of money. Even more so after we had to plunge countless billions into Covid and the repercussions of a war in Ukraine. There's no way that anyone would decide to build it if the idea was floated today. The only reason they're letting it continue is because they're already part-way through and they've dished out the contracts already for the work. It would easily have gone down as the biggest waste of money in the 21st century in Britain if it wasn't for intense competition from the Covid contracts crew who have given away billions to their mates. A close call.
The best way to make something useful out of it is to finish the project. I absolutely think if it was proposed now it would go ahead, just hopefully without all the stupid tunnelling. Look at the efficient train services across Europe. We need similar investment into infrastructure.
