Reading Chronicle | Opinion | Leader: Credibility gap

Friday, 25th July, 2008

Published: Thursday, 8th May, 2008 09:45

Leader: Credibility gap

AMID all the hand-wringing, point-scoring and macho posturing in the wake of the local government elections, there is one statistic which puts all politicians to shame.

When all the shouting’s done, and they have settled back into the cosiness of their town hall comfort zones, they might give a little thought to the fact that nationally 65% of the eligible electorate could not be bothered to vote last week.

Now it could be that these potential voters thought they had better things to do, or they were simply fed up at the sight and sound of grown men and women squabbling like kids at a pre-school nursery.

However, it is more than likely they feel that the credibility gap between themselves and those who purport to make decisions on behalf of their local communities is now so wide as to be near impossible to bridge.

They cannot fool all of us forever. Every driver knows that it costs around a tenner more to fill up their petrol tanks than it did a few months ago; the price of basic foodstuffs edges the supermarket bill ever upwards; and even those unaffected by the 10p tax ructions are well aware they are paying for the reduction in the basic income tax rate with the loss of their allowances.

Since last Thursday, every politician has been promising to listen.

They have no better opportunity to do that than to take a close look at the proposed rail loop which, as we reveal today, is the brainchild of the Thames Valley Economic Partnership.

It would run a railway to, from and through the places where the travelling public actually want it; not just to ports of convenience for ticking a few boxes and collecting the next fistful of subsidies.

It is high time the politicians realised it is no longer good enough to keep hammering motorists with soaring fuel, road tax and parking charges, ensuring it is nigh impossible to park within walking distance of their homes, and making them feel guilty for merely thinking about backing the car out of the drive.

We do not believe there is a single motorist anywhere who voluntarily sits in a rush hour traffic queue, needlessly joins the daily procession up or down the M4, or pays a king’s ransom to park at Heathrow Airport.

But until there are viable and genuine alternatives, the motoring public has little or no choice.

Let the politicians listen to the likes of the Thames Valley Economic Partnership, but get a move on.

Time is running out fast.

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