John McDonnell
Parliamentary speech on transport in South East England
Mr. John Redwood MP for Wokingham:
Is the Secretary of State aware that south-east England is chronically short oftransport capacity of all kinds-railway routes and roads? Will he come to theHouse soon to tell us how he proposes to ease road congestion by road wideningand junction improvements?
Is he aware that the South East England Development Agency does not speakfor people in my constituency, as it has tried to block necessary expansions of capacityand turned a blind eye to chronic shortage and congestion? Would it not be better to abolish thatbody and spend the money on road improvements?
Mr. Darling:
I admire the right hon. Gentleman's brass neck in many ways. Itwould have been nice if investment in road and rail had been sustained overthe past 20 to 30 years. Many of the problems about which he and hisconstituents rightly complain are a result of two things. One is growingprosperity-there are more cars and more people with reasons to travel.Unfortunately, however, that comes on top of a failure of successiveGovernments to make the necessary investments in transport infrastructure.In relation to junctions, I hope that, if we are able to make progress, Iwill be able to say something that may cheer him up.
