We’re all used to the evasions, cavilling and casuistry of our ZanuLabour masters in this, Year Nine of the project, but it’s still unusual to catch one of the little bastards in the lie direct.
Stephen Ladyman in The Guardian:
If we are to cope with such demand, it’s vital that transport users can
access accurate, up-to-date, integrated information about their
journeys. That’s why we launched Transport Direct in 2004 – the first
comprehensive, multi-modal transport website.
Nope, it wasn’t the first.
So let’s set the record straight. Transport Direct came into
existence because there was a gap in the market. The public needed a
comprehensive site that united all modes of transport and provided
detailed advice on door-to-door journeys across Britain.
Research showed that if the government didn’t develop such a service, no one else would.
Nope, not true. Someone actually did, from the private sector, design, build and operate just such a site.
A consultation process with the transport industry concluded that
Transport Direct could not happen without the government’s impartiality
and central funding.
So how would one explain the existence of Xephos then?
A private sector multi-modal route planner for the UK. Built, as I have noted elsewhere, for substantially (like about one fiftieth) of the tax money splurged on Transport Direct.
We’re left with just the one question then. Is the Minister of State for Transport simply ignorant, in that he doesn’t know all of this? Is he lying, in that he does know but wishes to obscure the facts? Or does he think that we are all stupid and that we won’t find out about it?
A quick question. Do you only have to resign if you lie to Parliament or does doing so in a newspaper column count as well?
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