Lucy Rigby

By Lucy Rigby lucyrigby

Over the last two years and in common with many others, I have been campaigning hard for better rail links for our city. As well as campaigning, I’ve written again and again (here on The Lincolnite and elsewhere) that better connectivity is vital to our economic growth in the years ahead – so much so, in fact, that people tell me to stop banging on about trains. If you agree, then stop reading here.

Last year, the Conservatives took the decision — wrongly in my view — to privatise the profitable East Coast Main Line, meaning that private companies are currently competing to win the East Coast contract.

Within the government’s invitation to companies to tender for that contract, there is the scope for the government to specify that more frequent services between Lincoln and the capital must be part of each companies’ bid.

That’s why, in January of this year, I wrote to the Minister for Transport to urge him to include more frequent Lincoln services as a ‘minimum requirement’ of the ITT.

I highlighted the overwhelmingly high level of public support for more frequent Lincoln trains, as demonstrated by the responses to the government’s own East Coast consultation.

Although I was glad that the Under Secretary of State for Transport, Stephen Hammond MP, said he has noted my comments, I was disappointed that he could not assure me that Lincoln will be specified as a minimum requirement in the ITT.

The publication of the ITT, which the Under Secretary of State for Transport said could be expected in February, has still not happened.

It’s a shame that we’re now almost at the end of March and there is still no clarity from the Government as to whether or not Lincoln will be guaranteed more trains or not.

As and when the government do publish the ITT, there is every reason that it should stipulate that all bidding companies will offer more frequent Lincoln services as a minimum.

I very, very much hope it does.

Lucy Rigby is Lincoln Labour's candidate to be the city's next MP. She is a solicitor and lives in central Lincoln.

By Lucy Rigby lucyrigby

At a meeting of Lincolnshire County Council last Friday, every single Conservative and Lib Dem county councillor present voted to give themselves an exponential 23% payrise, amounting to an extra £2,000 a year of taxpayers’ money each.

Every single Labour County Councillor present voted against the payrise. However, because of the balance of power in the County Council, the vote was passed and the payrise will come into effect from May.

In the context of the cuts which those same councillors have voted to inflict on residents, this is nothing short of obscene.

Since 2010, the Conservative-controlled County Council have voted through large-scale and swingeing cuts, all in the name of saving public money. They’ve cut adult social care, affecting thousands of people in the County.

They’ve shut 8 care homes. They’ve cut youth services and youth centres, buses and education support staff. They’ve also cut jobs – over 1,000 in fact.

But apparently the same money-saving imperative doesn’t apply when it comes to their own pockets.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the only example of clear double standards from local elected representatives that we have seen recently. Our Conservative MP, Karl McCartney, has voted consistently for widespread cuts to public spending, including a freeze on public sector salaries – yet, as a public servant himself, he’s also been campaigning for his own 11% payrise.

Mr McCartney already earns a salary of over £65,000 a year, and he pays his wife an additional £40,000 a year of public money. You don’t have to be the brain of Britain to understand that it’s exactly this kind of abject hypocrisy that turns people off politics.

It’s the perfect ammuniton for those who say politicians are just “in for themselves”. For this reason, the Tory and Lib Dem county councillors’ deeply irresponsible decision to award themselves more taxpayers’ money in a time of supposed public spending restraint won’t just affect residents’ view of them, it’ll impact badly on politics as a whole.

Lucy Rigby is Lincoln Labour's candidate to be the city's next MP. She is a solicitor and lives in central Lincoln.