Viewpoint: Disappointed MP voted against railways public ownership

Disappointed MP voted against railway change

I was disappointed to learn that our MP, Josh Reynolds, joined alongside Tory and Reform MPs to vote against bringing our railways back under public ownership and control.

This is a stark reminder that ‘tactical voting’ could result in progressives supporting candidates who would be much more at home in the Conservative Party than anywhere else.

As a commuter town we have benefited from investment in public transport, with the taxpayer-funded Elizabeth line resulting in a massive upgrade to our station and our local economy.

Though the Lib Dems, Tories and Reform may think our town’s commuters should rely on bare-bones, private equity-controlled railways, many of us think we deserve better.

MATTHEW CLAYTON

Maidenhead

It turns out being a Lib Dem is for everyone

It seems appropriate in this Christmas season to draw parallels between a biblical figure and a RBWM councillor.

Saul of Tarsus, a Pharisee, was on the road to Damascus when he had a vision of Christ and felt compelled to convert to Christianity.

Cllr Geoff Hill was also on a journey. From Conservative, to Independent, to Borough First Independent, to Local Independent, when he too had a vision, of Cllr Werner and the Liberal Democrat majority.

Saul, who changed his name to Paul, demonstrated the sincerity of his conversion by founding Christian communities and via his epistles, instructing Christians all over the Roman Empire on how to worship.

What evidence is there of Cllr Hill’s sincerity? To date, none.

Perhaps the Lib Dems have a Khmer Rouge style political re-education camp.

He should book in for a long stay.

In the meantime, he could at least change his name. I think ‘Quid Pro Quo Hill’ has a nice ring.

After all, absent any proof otherwise, the residents of Oldfield ward and the Borough are surely within their rights to speculate that he has done all of this to ensure his name goes onto the Lib Dem ticket for Riverside ward in 2027, where they are currently one short.

Reform must look less of an electoral threat there than in Oldfield, a ward with an asylum hotel and more Union Jacks flapping around than you could poke a stick at.

He would also team up with his fellow cabinet member, Cllr Richard Coe.

Richard once told me, rather sarcastically that ‘being a Liberal Democrat isn’t for everyone’.

Turns out that, as usual, Richard was wrong. It seems that being a Liberal Democrat is for anyone.

JOHN BALDWIN

Boyn Hill