Bank Holliday Essay – “The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.”
Some background for the following post.
The author is commenting on the current Edinburgh tram fiasco, where cacophony of bad management, bad planning, and a very bad contractor Bilfinger Berger (Remember those chaps, eh?, They were the same crew that screwed up the Seymour water tunnel project!) has all but sunk the much needed tram project. Adding, the UK riots and viola.
The sad fact is, we don't do things differently here, we just keep spending billions of dollars on truncated metro lines that do not offer an attractive alternative to the car and pretend we are doing a great job moving people.
The only difference between the UK and Vancouver, we only seem to burn an loot when Vancouver loses a hockey game, something fun to do in no-fun city, where at least in the UK there seems to be a bit of an political undercurrent for their riots.
I listened to You & Yours on BBC Radio 4 at lunch time today, one of the reports/subjects tackled was the legacy & the sustainability of the 2012 London Olympics.
I was struck with a sense of déjà vous; the number of You & Yours episodes over the past 3 – 4 months that have focussed on the on going twists, trials and ramifications of that singularly unfortunate project.
I will not apologise for cross posting, the two LRTA groups & the Croydon Tramlink group have featured lengthy comments on the Edinburgh debacle and have included innumerable url links to published articles in the:
Scotsman, Herald, the Scotsman on Sunday & also today's Edinburgh Evening News
A comment from today's BBC programme that stuck in my mind was,"The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."
For those of you, not familiar with this line, it is from the novel, The Go Between by Leslie Poles [L.P.] Hartley
http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/51606.L_P_Hartley
which was made into a 1970 film, directed by Joseph Losey with a star cast, in an adaptation by Harold Pinter.
The book's opening sentence & films opening line, "The past is a foreign country: they do things differently there", has become almost proverbial.
The context of this quotation, was the legacy of 2012 on the rest of Britain outside London; a Leeds born BBC journalist commented that in Manchester, Sheffield also Glasgow and Edinburgh as well as Leeds, the 2012 interest & legacy was minimal amongst the locals, even with Olympic teams from across the globe using sporting facilities the length & breadth of Britain for training.
For me, the inclusion of Leeds was particularly pertinent, as Alistair Darling cancelled the tram system there in 2006/07 and only last week he resurfaced in Edinburgh to support the Scottish politicians in their efforts to finish the Edinburgh tram.
Across Britain, 2012 has not at least so far lifted the country from its depression, far from the opposite, though the perceived injustice of the ticket ballot, allocations & sales has not helped.
As with LRT/Tram projects, London 2012 has bought out the Nimby's, with their cries of ` Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anything (or Anyone)' BANANA and `Fear of Revitalization Urban-Infill' and Towers FRUIT
Not a Penny More and of course "The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there."
For past read London 1948, anywhere north or south of the border, anywhere on the continent, anywhere in the US or Canada, depending on which side of the border your on.
Reading the various tram articles in the Scotsman, Herald, the Scotsman on Sunday & the Edinburgh Evening News my eyes ran down the on line vox-pop comments.
The working class feel alienated on the matter of trams & Olympics, thus they fervently protest – burn & loot our high streets and claim they are victimised by society.
The middle class feel threatened on the matter of trams & Olympics, thus they fervently protest – write to the papers, write to their MP and claim their life style, taxes & PROPERTY ARE THREATENED
I read the letters in our local papers, following the Olympic cycling test event, the other week and so many inhabitants of SW London & Surrey claimed the event threatened their life style & freedom of association.
Yes, The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there
They do things differently in Glasgow, London, Paris, Berlin, Seattle and Edmonton
Bank Holiday essay over.
