One of the good things about the Co-operative Party is that you can get good speakers, people who know their subject who don't mind giving up their time to answer lots of questions. Well they are not going into a bear pit of a political point scoring and private agendas. Everyone is on the same side and wants the best outcome.
So it was this night, last Thursday. Room was a bit chilly on the thermometer but the atmosphere was warm. Cllr. Andrew Fender (Lab/Co-op; Old Moat Manchester) did the talk. Transport for Greater Manchester has been his subject for over 20 years. He knows his stuff. We learnt a lot. You have to go back to the Transport Act of 1985 which de-regulated transport outside of London and how the tax-paying public isn't getting the best deal. Lots of public money invested in infrastructure for heavy and light rail (metrolink) and lots of subsidy. Essentially paying private companies to make profits from a much needed public service is not an efficient economic for Britain.
Usually these meetings run for just over an hour but such was the interest that it was 2200h before we finally had to close it down.
