September 10: Get TransPennine rail upgrade back on track

These questions, which continue to be dodged by Ministers, have become even more paramount after the Department for Transport revealed the country’s 10 most overcrowded trains. Even though the Leeds to Manchester line did not feature, it has been abundantly clear for the past decade that capacity has not been keeping pace with demand.

Yet many will find the response of Rail Minister Claire Perry to be complacent, despite the promise of an extra 3,700 carriages across the country. That maybe so, but the additional rolling stock will not become available until the end of the decade, and that these trains are earmarked for InterCity routes and, predictably, the Thameslink commuter route serving London.

Given that the capital is, once again, set for further preferential treatment in spite countless reports exposing the disproportionate amount of public money being spent on infrastructure improvements in London, it will, again, prompt commuters in Yorkshire to conclude that they’re receiving a second class deal from a Government which has repeatedly promised to put transport at the heart of its Northern Powerhouse strategy. This view will become even more entrenched unless Ministers respond to The Yorkshire Post’s Back on Track campaign by approving the electrification of the TransPennine Express and Midland Mainline without further unnecessary delay so more trains can operate at peak periods and meet 
the undoubted public demand.

Progress at last? Chilcot Iraq inquiry inches forward

AT LONG last. There is a hint that the slow-moving Chilcot inquiry, set up in 2009 to investigate the Blair government’s decision-making prior to the Iraq invasion, is inching towards a belated conclusion. This follows confirmation that Sir John Chilcot had received the responses of those key players likely to be heavily criticised when the findings are published.

Yet this so-called progress offers no comfort to the families of those service personnel killed in a conflict which began 12 long years ago, or to David Cameron as the Prime Minister tries to second guess the report and determine whether there is a legal basis for greater British military involvement in Syria after drone strikes were controversially used to assassinate two Uk-born jihadists who were said to pose a serious threat to this country’s national security.

It should not have come to this. It is clear, when there is the now inevitable inquiry into the inquiry, that the so-called Maxwellisation process needs to be reviewed – witnesses should not have had the right to respond to the conclusions of Chilcot before they are published.

The public interest should always take precedence over the reputation of individuals – irrespective of their status as politicians, military generals or government advisors. As such, the continuing mismanagement of the Chilcot Inquiry will play into the hands of those who believe that the Establishment is trying to absolve itself of some of the responsibility for a foreign policy disaster which has had even greater repercussions than the Suez crisis. In the meantime, Sir John should heed this frank advice that he recently received from Mr Cameron: “Get on with it.”

Champions again: Yorkshire in league of their own

HOW apt that Yorkshire should retain their cherished County Championship title following a totally dominant bowling display by those 
wily veterans Ryan Sidebottom and Tim Bresnan who rolled back the years at Lord’s. Like last year, this success has been built on the back of a talented collection of ambitious home-grown players which has so much strength in depth that it can withstand international call-ups, and injury, with the minimum of fuss.

Credit should also go to the side’s inspirational coach Jason Gillespie – the Australian surely deserves to be made an honorary Yorkshireman in recognition of the transformation that he, and others, have presided over. There’s surely no chance of him leaving Headingley to answer any call that his home country may or may not make; there can be no greater privilege in global cricket than leading the world’s most famous club side to even greater success. Roll on the hat-trick quest in 2016.