Jargon can’t hide failure

From: ME Wright, Harrogate.

SOME weeks back, Tom Richmond referred to the “impenetrable language” of suits etc.

Leeds City Council has announced that it has “opened the tendering process for a contract to deliver its transport masterplan by 2021” (The

Yorkshire Post, April 20). Does this mean wheels and infrastructure by 2021 or, again simply something to be chewed, spat out, revised and revisited?

To recap: it took the council 30 years to acknowledge that their grandads had made a mess of things with their cheapjack, “all bus” masterplan. They submitted plans for tram reintroduction to Tory and Labour governments.

Both denied funding on a questionable “value for money” basis. The council crumbled, threw away £70m and – of far greater value – 10 years wasted on their abortive trolleybus fiasco.

We are now asked to accept the LCC ‘lightbulb’ moment: basically, subject to better seats and wifi, grandad was right all along. Why have those silly people in mainland Europe and elsewhere in the UK been wasting money on tube and tram investment when the obvious answer was under their noses?