"Dear Mr Harper" on Edinburgh Trams

Robin Harper launched his autobiography, "Dear Mr Harper" last night at Blackwells book shop in Edinburgh.  Robin Harper is a very pleasant, genial man who became the first member of the Green Party to be elected to a UK parliament when he became an MSP in 1999. His book, which he wrote in association with Fred Bridgeland, is a pleasing read with several amusing anecdotes which will keep the reader entertained through its two hundred pages.

It was interesting when he was asked at the launch what the Green Party would advise a new Scottish Government to do about the Edinburgh Trams project that he showed real despair - even banging his head against the wall to show his frustration!

He commented that it seems that some Scottish Local Authorities simply do not have the expertise to run such large and complex schemes. He said that of the three companies in the Trams consortium, two had acted impeccably, but the third had hired a string of lawyers as soon as the contract was signed - implying that legal wrangles lay ahead and that the German company wanted to cause trouble.

He was also asked what the position of the Green Party was about the complaints about pollution from those who had houses some five hundred metres away from the new Forth crossing, when compared with the greatly increased pollution being experienced by residents of the residential New Town in Edinburgh who have the pollution only five metres from their windows.

His answer was interesting; he said, "oh, the two are quite different, for the trams the traffic will revert to its normal routes once the tram works are finished."  

The questioner begged to differ and pointed out that the traffic diversions in the city have now been made permanent and that the effects of the traffic displacement by the tram project will be experienced right along the length of the tram route. 

Robin Harper said that in this case the City Council would have to find some other solution to reduce traffic and suggested that the Congestion Charge might be reintroduced; he said "last time the Council foolishly asked people to vote in a referendum and it was rejected, but this may be one solution." 

At that point it was felt it was time to start signing books! 

This sounds rather like that other MSP who did not appreciate that the trams needed overhead power cables all along Princes Street to power them.  

It does make one wonder just how many MSPs really understood what they were voting for when they decided to go ahead with the project.

Dear Mr. Harper: The Autobiography of Robin Harper