Post by capitalomnibus on Jan 25, 2024 1:28:54 GMT
My, we are a cheerful lot! World War 3 for goodness sake!
For what it is worth, my thoughts are:
- If there is to be another significant war, then Yemen looks likely. They are already in civil war and the ingredients are right for escalation unfortunately. The other two major wars in the world at the moment look likely to either do nothing quickly (Ukraine) or return to an uneasy distrust (Gaza).
- elections - probably a Labour victory in both London Mayoral and general. I can’t see Susan Hall doing anything much - what she gains in outer London won’t be enough for the keys to City Hall. The general election may slip to January 2025, but the current government look totally washed up and finished. A Labour victory may upset many with far right views, and this may be a worry as we move through the new parliament.
- TfL land - a better year than of late. Superloop will do well, and I think the Bakerloo extension to Lewisham may come back to the table. A few new bus consultations look likely - my guess is that these will be for Brixton, Lewisham, Kingston, Ilford/Barking and Barnet. We won’t lose any operators this year from TfL contracts.
On the negative side, I think huge numbers of bus contracts will be thrown back from myriad operators, and I don’t think it will be an easy year for industrial relations, particularly on the Underground.
- buses in the South East generally - some areas will get better (Surrey, Hertfordshire), some will stagnate (Buckinghamshire, Berkshire), some will deteriorate (Essex) and some will see savage cutting (Kent). Indeed, in Kent, I can see possibly some operator failures - even after its takeover, I fear for Go-Coach.
There you go, for better or worse.
Britain must train citizen army, military chief warns
Britain should train a "citizen army" ready to fight a war on land in the future, the head of the Army has said.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-68086188