Where do our priorities lie? UK Ltd - The soft touch nation!

[Gollom]

Just spotted this today:

A safety review of all 1,800 bridges in Cumbria is being carried out after severe flooding caused extensive damage to homes and roads in the county. Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered the review during a visit on Saturday, when he pledged £1m for flooded communities
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8372775.stm

Pretty good huh? Except that I spotted a news item last week (can't find it now) where we sent £1.5M to another country to enable them to build better road crossings!

What's the expression - "Charity Begins At Home"

Apologies if seen as political and agianst rules - please delete if so

 

[BTB 500]

This is what some unexpected rainfall did to a rail bridge near me last weekend (posted in another thread):

The line from Waterloo to Reading has been closed since - I had to work from home all last week. They are hoping to have a limited service running over the bridge tomorrow?!

 

[yachtman]

Just spotted this today:

A safety review of all 1,800 bridges in Cumbria is being carried out after severe flooding caused extensive damage to homes and roads in the county. Prime Minister Gordon Brown ordered the review during a visit on Saturday, when he pledged £1m for flooded communities
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8372775.stm

Pretty good huh? Except that I spotted a news item last week (can't find it now) where we sent £1.5M to another country to enable them to build better road crossings!

What's the expression - "Charity Begins At Home"

Apologies if seen as political and agianst rules - please delete if so

must admit I found it astounding, as if the bridges wouldnt be inspected any way !!!

As for the 1.5m given to cumbria,well that will do how much good? wont go far in re building the one bridge where the police man tragically lost his life.

 

[wemorgan]

Over the years a lot of money has been spent on researching masonry arch bridges, due to an increasing number of HGVs on the road. Time for some more to be spent on water erosion now. I just hope they don't go for a knee-jerk reaction and demolish a lot of these beautiful arch bridges and replace them with concrete ones.

 

[Gollom]

must admit I found it astounding, as if the bridges wouldnt be inspected any way !!!

As for the 1.5m given to cumbria,well that will do how much good? wont go far in re building the one bridge where the police man tragically lost his life.

Not sure if you misunderstood. I meant that the UK gave £1.5M to another country yet we gave £1M to our own. The £1.5M was not for rebuilding the bridge but rather to help the community overall?

 

[crockers]

A lot of the people will be insured and the claims for that will run into millions. The bridges - well think of a number and start adding zeros. The £1m - what is that for ? Needs to be defined before berating it.

The money abroad - which country?

Sorry - but rather too knee jerk a reaction...

 

[Dryce]

Not sure if you misunderstood. I meant that the UK gave £1.5M to another country yet we gave £1M to our own. The £1.5M was not for rebuilding the bridge but rather to help the community overall?

Note that our current gov is proposing to make it law that 0.7% of our GDP gets spent on foreign aid.

A good thing perhaps. It sounds small.

But when the country is wallowing in debt - it's naive naive and unaffordable. Put the house in order first - get the priorities right - and only indulge in this sort of thinking when you can afford it.

 

[Dryce]

Over the years a lot of money has been spent on researching masonry arch bridges, due to an increasing number of HGVs on the road. Time for some more to be spent on water erosion now. I just hope they don't go for a knee-jerk reaction and demolish a lot of these beautiful arch bridges and replace them with concrete ones.

A simpler solution might be to weight restrict a lot more roads and bridges.

 

[jonnyboy]

I actually (sadly) rather agree with the outlook of "at home first".

I was at church today, dont normally go but my daughter was doing a reading.

A lovely chap was plugging his local-to-us charity, who organise safe residential homes and education. In Manila. We have a large R/Cath. contingent locally as they seem to staff the hospital, and I'm sure they are church regulars.

Very sadly, all I could think of was "what about our own country first?".

Rant over, sorry for the hijack.

 

[wemorgan]

But when the country is wallowing in debt - it's naive naive and unaffordable. Put the house in order first - get the priorities right - and only indulge in this sort of thinking when you can afford it.

I don't pretend to understand macro economics, but supporting developing nations sounds good to me. As they develop so their need for new technologies that we can supply also increases.

A simpler solution might be to weight restrict a lot more roads and bridges.

True. But then they would be diverted on to other roads, not necessarily also suited to HGVs.

 

[adm]

This is what some unexpected rainfall did to a rail bridge near me last weekend (posted in another thread):

How can rainfall be unexpected when you live in England?

Flooding is nothing new, and all bridges should have scheduled inspections and maintenance.

I suspect part of the problem is all the bloody freight on the road these days instead of on the rails where it should be.

 

[Dryce]

I don't pretend to understand macro economics, but supporting developing nations sounds good to me. As they develop so their need for new technologies that we can supply also increases.

There's a rather more fundamental principal which overrides this:

You don't spend money that you don't have.
​

 

[GordonTarling]

A simpler solution might be to weight restrict a lot more roads and bridges.

What's the point? Lorry drivers with their satnavs totally ignore the 17T limit on a bridge near us. One day . . . . .

 

[rf065]

A simpler solution might be to weight restrict a lot more roads and bridges.

It may even have been more prudent to spend money on bridges & road infrastructure over the last 30 or 40 years instead of successive governments following a policy of spending as little as possible and hoping everthing would last for ever.

Russ

 

[renault12ts]

First of all £1.5m is a very small amount of money as regards foreign aid.

The £1m pledged by GB to Cumbria is to cover immediate needs.

The incredible amounts of water exerted on the bridges of Cumbria in recent days have been unprecedented and therefore a program of inspections on this scale is outside the norm.

The fact of £1.5m being sent overseas to help their roads will in no way impinge on the problems in Cumbria. This is a very mean spirited thread. The OP posted £1.5m in very large letters as if that somehow made it a large amount of money. It is not. To any of us, individually, it might be, but to this country it might be described as tiny.

 

[jaymanek]

1.5m is small fish... there is much larger scale wastage of our money going on.

 

[Dryce]

It may even have been more prudent to spend money on bridges & road infrastructure over the last 30 or 40 years instead of successive governments following a policy of spending as little as possible and hoping everthing would last for ever.

Probably.

But the damage I see (and feel) on the roads seems to reinstate itself fairly quickly after repairs. The quality of the repairs in some cases but not all is often visibly poor.

IMO restricting trucks back to 35 or 38 tonnes would make a huge difference.

My biggest beef at the moment, however, is the priority that says spend X thousands on a flashing speed warning sign while letting the basic road markings at the adjacent road junctions go to hell.

 

[lynall]

There's a rather more fundamental principal which overrides this:

You don't spend money that you don't have.
​

Aaah buts thats the whole problem, people, companies and basically everyone has been doing just that.

Now im unusual in that me and the wife own everything we have outright apart from the house, most people even the cloths on their backs are on credit ie money thats not theirs.

I remember many years ago sitting in a car park in my 1st car a beaten up old Datsun, and a Cavalier (you can see how long ago by the cars!) pulling up and all its passengers getting out, all in smart cloths etc wife says to me how can they afford that? because says i they dont own any of it and never will.


Lynall

 

[Stratman]

I always assumed "Charity begins at home" meant "Don't wait for others to help, get your own hand in your pocket".

But that's just me.

 

[Gollom]

First of all £1.5m is a very small amount of money as regards foreign aid.

The £1m pledged by GB to Cumbria is to cover immediate needs.

The incredible amounts of water exerted on the bridges of Cumbria in recent days have been unprecedented and therefore a program of inspections on this scale is outside the norm.

The fact of £1.5m being sent overseas to help their roads will in no way impinge on the problems in Cumbria. This is a very mean spirited thread. The OP posted £1.5m in very large letters as if that somehow made it a large amount of money. It is not. To any of us, individually, it might be, but to this country it might be described as tiny.

Not at all. My point was the principle that more and more the UK seem to be offering aid abroad before looking at our own shores. I actually firmly believe in helping others less fortunate - I help wherever I can if I am able be it money or be it physical help, both of which I am involved in.

I agree - the amount is miniscule and is actually irrelevant to the discussion.

The Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust gets no government help whatsover. Neither did they get any lottery funding when they applied for it (I'm pretty sure that this is all still true) as other groups were chosen in preference. Not even going to go there as I do see red on that issue - lets just say that some of the other groups were perhaps not mainstream.

Thanks for your own opinion - at least we live in a country where one CAN have an opinion!

Best regards