The DfT’s taskforce to deal with the eternally-delayed Hammersmith Bridge in London has not met since January last year. The grade-II listed bridge has been closed since cracks were discovered on it in 2019…
In response to a written question today the Department for Transport admitted:
“The first meeting of the reconvened Hammersmith Bridge Taskforce was held on 30 January 2025, and a further meeting of the Taskforce will be convened in the near future to discuss next steps. Attendees at the 30th January meeting included representatives from the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, the Greater London Authority, Transport for London, the Department for Transport, the Port of London Authority, the London Borough of Wandsworth, Historic England and the Environment Agency, as well as local Members of Parliament attending as observers.”
To give co-conspirators a sense of how useless that first meeting was, proposals were discussed to convert it into an inaccessible “monument” or demolish it entirely. The closed bridge causes massive traffic disruptions in West London…
The latest official forecast for the cost of repair is £250 million. Officials don’t seem to bothered about getting it moving…
Speaking to Sky News off the back of Rachel Reeves’ Air Passenger Duty hike, Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary said:
“Labour is dependent on those Red Wall seats, and yet every move she makes poisons economic growth and damages the UK’s recovery… it’s the Chancellor who stumbles from policy misstep to policy misstep… I think her policy decisions are incredibly stupid.”