Not at all clear what strategic aims this SOBC is seeking to address.

Blackburn/Burnley were still holding out in the 2011 census as a separate high skill TTWA

The French typically have a gap midmorning for line inspection. We used to get a lot of delays on West Coast mid-morning for the same reason but we've developed ways to inspect with less disruption (eg better equipment on the track monitoring train).

Walk mostly. Edge of city centre is ideal for that (unlike edge of city).

Biggest surface emission problem is HGVs. Rail is about 3% of CO2e.

They tried to promote development in Croydon back in the day: didn't really come to much. City centre plus commuting works better.

We're stuck with most of the lowish-density housing. But new building can be different.

Not really practical for an opposition party to do detailed planning. Civil service will have been gearing up and well-used to changing direction quickly.

The problem was/is the fiscal position.

Oxford has to try first ;)

The other approach is to construct an attractive narrative that pulls apart somebody else's coalition, in the manner of a Thatcher or Blair. But that seems to be beyond the skills of the current lot.

The art of triangulation is in getting people to see things differently, so they are prepared to make common cause. This generally means trying to *reduce* the salience of issues that divide your coalition.

If you've lost the art, maybe focus on delivering for your core.

Developments also need access to schools, shops, doctors, hospitals (etc etc), which is usually a lot easier with urban extensions or densification.

(because those voters are geographically dispersed)

It's probably easier (and certainly quicker) for second tier cities to build flats on the edge of their city centres than transform their transport systems. Third tier cities it's more about pump-priming office development.

Paris-Milan is shorter and might be practical once they've built the tunnel under the alps (but with a stop in Turin).

Paris-Frankfurt might be practical, though high-speed in Germany doesn't generally provide for non-stop services, and biggest cities are even further away.

Current longest regular non-stop are journeys like Milan-Rome, Madrid-Barcelona, London-Paris, Paris-Avignon/Marseille

Labour could be in a position to have a good narrative about the revitalisation of cities with office development, public transport, Austrian-style social housing. But instead they are focused on fiscal levers and hoping the private sector delivers for them.

Perhaps you might explain a little more? The Oxford Mail article is meaningless froth.