Some random thoughts whilst listening to the Today program today:

There’s a proposal to change the train timetable to reflect the reality of what’s happening on the rail network. What a good idea! As a passenger I think that what’s most important to me is knowing reliably what time the train will arrive because then I can plan. Of course, this isn’t the real reason for the change; the real reason is to improve the statistics. However, I still think it would be better for passengers to have a timetable that can be trusted.

One thing that’s been bugging me is the phrase “Let’s wait for the enquiry/report/plan”. What is it about Government ministers and the prime minister himself that means they are too cowardly to have their own opinion but have to hide behind a committee’s opinion? I think it’s so that they have someone to blame when the bureaucratic opinion turns out to be the whitewash it usually is. Yesterday it was the Prime Minister about Lord Hutton (I think – could have been the dead soldier), today it was Tessa Jowel about a railway line and the junior defense minister talking about the enquiry about the dead soldier. It’s driving me up the wall. I’d like to see the people at the top take some responsibility for a change!