Snail speed Britain

W HY does everything in Britain take so long? The new high speed train link unveiled yesterday will not be completed until at least another 10 years. Or even more. I know that Rome wasn't built in a day but in Britain everything is being planned for the next decade. Even Prime Minister David Cameron's referendum on membership of the European Union is not going to take place until 2017. There doesn't appear to be any sense of urgency in Britain. High speed trains have been running up and down Spain for a decade and the whole network is now almost complete. In Britain, construction hasn't even started. Perhaps David Cameron should borrow that famous Winston Churchill quote “action this day” rather than “action in the next decade.” The two Royal Navy aircraft carriers, which are in the process of being built, will not be completed and fully operational until 2020, even though they were first ordered in 2007! Thirteen years to build an aircraft carrier. Now, obviously I understand that cost is one of the reasons why projects take so long but if the new rail link is the government's answer to solving Britain's economic recession then I think we had better sit back and wait because things are going to be very difficult for many years to come. Perhaps Britain should take note from what has happened in Spain. The whole country was transformed with new roads, airports and train link in 15 years.