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The non-railway and non-modelling social zone. Please ensure forum rules are adhered to in this area too!

Who would you like to meet and shake warmly by the throat!


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Harold Macmillan. Quite simply because he either did not see (or deliberately ignored) the plainly obvious conflict of interest in appointing Ernest Marples as transport secretary. The Beeching report was given carte blanche by this crook [Marples], blinded by self-interest to the point of criminality, when any number of the closures should have been actively challenged (the railways providing a service to the community anyone?).

 

We are still paying the price for this today; sadly something Macmillan and Marples will never be held to account for.

Many years ago I nearly got equal for you. I walked through the 12 car Vep prior to arriving at Victoria and sat in with the driver for the last few minutes. When we stopped I got out the drivers door and as I turned to leave, my huge guards bag on my shoulder, I sent an elderly man, who had just got out of 1st class, spinning. Mac nearly had a tumble.
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Harold Macmillan. Quite simply because he either did not see (or deliberately ignored) the plainly obvious conflict of interest in appointing Ernest Marples as transport secretary. The Beeching report was given carte blanche by this crook [Marples], blinded by self-interest to the point of criminality, when any number of the closures should have been actively challenged (the railways providing a service to the community anyone?).

 

We are still paying the price for this today; sadly something Macmillan and Marples will never be held to account for.

 

I quite agree with most of the sentiments but given we're supposed to steer clear of poltics on here and for the sake of balance surely there are those who also should share accountability - namely the politicians who implemented something like two-thirds of the closures during the late 60's.  It was no longer a MacMillan govt by then.

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I quite agree with most of the sentiments but given we're supposed to steer clear of poltics on here and for the sake of balance surely there are those who also should share accountability - namely the politicians who implemented something like two-thirds of the closures during the late 60's. It was no longer a MacMillan govt by then.

Slight divergence to defuse potential arguements...

 

Agreed... Just to quantify my comment, had greater diligence been taken prior to 1964 the precidence would have been set around which lines were closed. I do not suggest for a moment no lines should have been closed, clearly some rationalisation was needed; however the political will at the time was for increased road-building, and a reduction in what was still a victorian railway infrastructure and, in many cases, practices. Having a transport minister who was the Marples in Marples Ridgeway - who had a number of significant road-building contracts in the 1950s and 60s - was even then suggested to be a conflict of interest (cited on a number of occasions in Hansard, especially in relation to Marples' attempts to sell his shares in Marples Ridgeway).

 

The word 'Crook' has been widely used to describe him [Marples] - both in his share dealings and ultimately his fleeing to Monaco in the mid 70s upon allegations of tax evasion. Even some Conservative writers and bloggers are of the opinion that Marples was less than scrupulous (he was also linked with the Profumo scandal).

 

Beeching was an accountant (actually a chemist, but took an accountant's approach (not that accountants are bad people...I'm married to one!)) working to a very narrow brief; he made his recommendations, but the politicans were the ones to add the extra hues of colour and look to more than just financial viability. This did not happen, and the decision to close many of these routes has left many areas wholely reliant on the car. That is a negative legacy of the Macmillan government (perpetuated by the subsequent Wilson government); some of the Hansard reports date from 1960, so it was not as if Macmillan was unaware of the uneasiness around Marples' responsibilities; hence my submission of the Honourable Earl of Stockton to this august list.

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Ian Duncan Smith for his services to the sick, terminaly ill and disabled.

I have a disabled friend who has a house specially adapted for him courtesy of the local council. He is now in arrears with his rent due to the so called 'bedroom tax'. 

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Motorists that drive at 42mph regardless of the speed limit being 20/30/40/50/60/national and regardless of traffic/weather conditions....

 

HGV / Coach drivers who feel the desperate need to overtake another HGV / Coach on a dual carridgeway or 2 laned motorway just as they approach a hill and then overtake for the next 5 miles at 56mph holding all of the other road users up.

 

Steve

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Liberals, Socialists and do-goers.

 

 

Stupid, wet lefties, political correctness and those that seem to always suggest that aside from on the sporting front, patriotism is a dirty word!

 

Gordon Brown for keeping an eye on the budget!!!

 

People who cannot read the rules of this site that say NO POLITICS

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Those rather sad, rather pathetic, individuals who have to vent their unsubstantiated political opinions on here.

 

Dennis

 

Perhaps I'm being 'a bit thick' here, but opinions are just that - opinions, they do not necessarily have to be substantiated! Mine is as valid as yours, whether you lean to the left or right.

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Investment bankers, town planners, estate agents and people who have no consideration for how their lifestyle directly affects those around them.

 

On a more local level, those that talk about this hobby being a broad church and then talk about "rivet counters".

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My old school PE teacher who had a muscle for a brain and terrorised me for five years. He must be in his nineties now. I think I could take him.

My old school PE teacher who had a muscle for a brain and terrorised me for five years. He must be in his nineties now. I think I could take him.

I can relate to that. The vicious bxxxxxd PE teacher at a school I attended was similar. I hope he suffered!

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