Stonking resignation letter from Lord Adonis !

[whole diary]

[Electric train]

I do detest this sort of public whingeing. If you are going to resign, then just do it and move on - there is no point in writing a letter to your employer about it. That is, if it is a genuine resignation, rather than a "if you don't give me what I want, I'm going to resign - OK, then, see you - hang on, I didn't really mean it; you're supposed to say 'please don't go; I'll give you whatever you want'" sort of resignation. And for goodness' sake, just keep it between yourselves - this current fad for making your letters public in a cringeworthy "I'm going to get my friends onto you" sort of way is something I would hope most of us had grown out of since the toddler-having-a-tantrum-in-a-supermarket" phase.

To be far to Lord Adonis I believe the resignation letter in the OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) of this thread was his draft letter which was "leaked" by No 10.

Politicians of all persuasions have egos bigger than almost any other in the "celebrity class" and have to be seen scoring points otherwise they feel they are not in control, hence leak and counter leak of so called information.

[ellendune]

So was Jeremy Corbin....

Some bloke you know with a similar name to the leader of Her Majesty's Opposition?

Or are you referring to Jeremy Corbyn? If so, source please for proof of his membership, past or present, of the Communist Party.

Wikipedia would suggest that his membership of the Labour Party at a fairly young age would have precluded him being a member of the communist party.  So ChrisB, as bignosemac implies, I think you may be mistaken.  He has certainly been criticised for appointing a former member of the communist party to office - but I don't think that was Peter Mandelson. 

[JayMac]

And Peter Mandelson was only ever in the youth wing of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He grew out of it. 

Call it the folly of youth. Affected us all. My first vote aged 18 was for a Liberal Democrat. And it wasn't tactical. 

[simonw]

Whilst I don't know much about Lord Adonis, I believe he was the original driving force behind HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)), and in his recent role he was responsible for pushing this mad project forward.

Unlike many countries where HS^▸ (High Speed (short for HSS^▸ (High Speed Services) High Speed Services)) rail makes sense, the UK^▸ (United Kingdom) does not have major population centres 300km apart, but has re-occurring population centres 100km, or less, apart. These trains will hardly get up to speed to make a difference.

The HS2 budget should be used to create extra capacity on our primary routes with extra track to allow more direct trains, greater rail gauge to allow double deck trains, etc.

[Puffing Billy]

To be far to Lord Adonis I believe the resignation letter in the OP^▸ (Original Poster / topic starter) of this thread was his draft letter which was "leaked" by No 10.

If that is the case, then I apologise to Lord Adonis for accusing him of making the letter public (though not for writing the whingeing letter in the first place). My assumption that he was responsible was based entirely on the title of the thread as I fail to see the point of a "stonking" letter that was not intended for public consumption. In that case, who exactly is this mysterious Mr "No 10" who has "leaked" this confidential letter, and how do they justify a breach of confidence that would not be tolerated by those of us with real jobs and responsibilities? Presumably "No 10" is either a euphemism for the prime minister, who will pretend to know nothing about it if the going gets tough, or is a maverick accomplice of the prime minister who has done this off their own bat. And what would be the point anyway? We are used to them finding any old excuse to say Bad Things about The Other Side, but in this case, as I understand it, they seem to be stirring up bad publicity about someone on their own committee.

[ChrisB]

So ChrisB, as bignosemac implies, I think you may be mistaken.

Yep, seems so.

As Head of the National Ifrastructure Commission, he had a big hand in ordering the most expensive train ever, the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.), and the wires on GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line). So a lot of additional costs to the taxpayer

[stuving]

So ChrisB, as bignosemac implies, I think you may be mistaken.

Yep, seems so.

As Head of the National Ifrastructure Commission, he had a big hand in ordering the most expensive train ever, the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.), and the wires on GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line). So a lot of additional costs to the taxpayer

Not exactly ... the NIC was only created in 2015.

[JayMac]

As Head of the National Ifrastructure Commission, he had a big hand in ordering the most expensive train ever, the IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.), and the wires on GWML^▸ (Great Western Main Line). So a lot of additional costs to the taxpayer

The Intercity Express Programme predates Andrew Adonis' time at the DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) during the Labour administration. The DfT announced a replacement for the HSTs^▸ (High Speed Train) in 2005, and procurement began in 2007. Andrew Adonis didn't arrive at the DfT until late 2008, where he became a junior minister with the rail brief.

The announcement of the electrification of GWML was made in June 2009. Just after Andrew Adonis became Secretary of State. The groundwork had already been done though. Electrification of the GWML was on the agenda as soon as IEP procurement began. That was under the watch of both Geoff Hoon and Ruth Kelly.

Andrew Adonis had but a small hand in both decisions. And where taxpayers money is spent is ultimately the decision of the Treasury. The big hands were therefore the Chancellor and First Lord of the Treasury. They were Alistair Darling and Gordon Brown.

Any supposed profligacy with taxpayers money falls on their shoulders. Not Andrew Adonis'.

He was the architect of HS2^▸ (The next High Speed line(s)) though, with the plan published just before the 2010 election.The decision to actually waste commit billions of taxpayers money on HS2 rests with the Con/Libdem coalition.

[TaplowGreen]

And Peter Mandelson was only ever in the youth wing of the Communist Party of Great Britain. He grew out of it. 

True - perhaps if he'd remained faithful to Marx, he wouldn't have "grown up" and borrowed hundreds of thousands of £ from millionaire ministerial colleagues to buy houses in fashionable parts of London without telling his mortgage provider or Permanent Secretary, or accepted bungs from other extremely wealthy men in return for British Passports and had to resign twice...........lucky he had the EU^» (European Union - about) to fall back on!

However like much of the Labour Party under Blair, and indeed most people with even a tentative grasp of the realities of economics, he grew out of socialism per se.

[Timmer]

However like much of the Labour Party under Blair, and indeed most people with even a tentative grasp of the realities of economics, he grew out of socialism per se.

So true. Amazing that once in power you soon forget the principles you entered into politics with.

[Chris from Nailsea]

From the BBC^» (British Broadcasting Corporation - home page):

Branson hits back at East Coast rail franchise critics


Sir Richard Branson and team on an East Coast Virgin train

Sir Richard Branson has hit back at critics who say the government has bailed out Virgin Group and its partner in the East Coast rail franchise.

In November, the government allowed Virgin and Stagecoach to withdraw from running the service three years early.

Lord Adonis, former chair of the National Infrastructure Commission, said the move could eventually cost the taxpayer billions of pounds.

Sir Richard said the deal had cost Virgin and Stagecoach £100m.

In 2014, Virgin and Stagecoach signed a deal to run the East Coast line until 2023, promising the government £3.3bn in premiums.

In a blog published on Friday, Sir Richard said the two companies had been promised a huge upgrade of the tracks by Network Rail, which would have improved reliability and allowed more passengers to be carried.

"Considerable delays" to the upgrade and poor track reliability "torpedoed" the assumptions of the original bid, the blog said.

Sir Richard said he and his partners had not benefitted from the government's move, but had lost "well over £100m in total" without receiving a penny in dividends.

Although Lord Adonis accepts Network Rail failed to meet some of the promises on which Virgin and Stagecoach based their bid to run the franchise, he called the move to release the companies from the contract "indefensible".

He also said he was "ready to share troubling evidence with the Public Accounts Committee and other Parliamentary committees investigating the bailout".

The details of the new East Coast contract have yet to come out.

[bobm]

In a blog published on Friday, Sir Richard said the two companies had been promised a huge upgrade of the tracks by Network Rail, which would have improved reliability and allowed more passengers to be carried.

Interesting the different view taken by the operator on the East Coast compared to the Great Western electrification.

[ellendune]

In a blog published on Friday, Sir Richard said the two companies had been promised a huge upgrade of the tracks by Network Rail, which would have improved reliability and allowed more passengers to be carried.

Interesting the different view taken by the operator on the East Coast compared to the Great Western electrification.

[cynic mode]
But GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) criticising NR^» (Network Rail - home page) wouldn't be getting DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) off the hook for letting them off paying DfT loads of money. 
[/synic mode]

[ChrisB]

Hmmm, you don't know what discussions GWR^▸ (Great Western Railway) might be having/had behind closed doors, or indeed might still be having

[stuving]

In a blog published on Friday, Sir Richard said the two companies had been promised a huge upgrade of the tracks by Network Rail, which would have improved reliability and allowed more passengers to be carried.

Interesting the different view taken by the operator on the East Coast compared to the Great Western electrification.

The Interim Franchise Agreement has provisions for adjusting the payments following changes, as requested by either party. There is a long list of identified changes, though I suspect the words can be read to include "others not elsewhere specified". In particular, it notes the following as risks on the SoS's side (from Schedule 9.3):

1. Interrelated infrastructure delivery and rolling stock related risks

The parties acknowledge the provisions of Schedule 9.4 in respect of risks related to the Great Western Electrification Programme, IEP^▸ (Intercity Express Program / Project.) delivery and the cascade of Class 387 Units to the Franchisee.

2. Crossrail

It shall be a Change if all of the Crossrail Stations do not transfer to the Crossrail Operator on the Passenger Change Date in December 2017.

Given the context - that this was an interim agreement to cover a period of change that was already starting to deviate from plan - you would expect a lot of flexibility in it.