Letters to the Editor – 30/10 – HS2 flaws, Housing mobility, Best of Twitter
HS2 flaws
[Re: FTSE bosses lose faith in HS2, yesterday]
That half of the surveyed FTSE 100 bosses are now against HS2 further underlines why the project has deep faults. The business case for HS2 is flawed, highlighted by the government’s own report, which lowered the expected benefit-cost ratio and revised an assumption that business people do not get much work done on trains. The £42bn cost should be spent on better and cheaper schemes. In London, our mayor should fight hard for a significant amount of this cash, and invest it directly into the Tube, bus, cycle and riverboat networks.
Richard Tracey, Greater London Assembly Conservatives transport spokesman
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Housing mobility
[Re: Don’t blame foreigners for our self-inflicted housing shortage, yesterday]
Great piece. One often overlooked aspect is that soaring house prices are not just bad news for aspirational young people, keen to get out of the rental sector and into their own homes. It’s stifling recruitment into an increasing number of industries. It started with nurses and teachers. Now stagnant wages are blocking the mobility of even relatively well-paid technicians, engineers and scientists. The head of a major national research facility recently told me that housing costs are becoming a major issue for the recruitment of top people.
Name withheld
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BEST OF TWITTER
It’s concerning UK has fallen from 18 to 28 in World Bank’s ranking of top countries for starting a business.
@ChukaUmunna
HS1 concession relied on ongoing subsidies. Without taxpayer support, private investment will avoid HS2.
@RichardWellings
The US spends the most per capita on healthcare at $8,508 (Norway next at $5,669) – before Obamacare.
@ianbremmer
UK monthly mortgage approvals highest since early 2008, but below pre-crisis levels. I still think bubble.
@Josh_CityIndex