High-speed rail from London to Birmingham is still in debate

Many people believe that high speed rail should be initiated whereas many people think that this would waste the investment and not benefit the country. Also after severe winter season, the roads have been damaged and millions have to be spent by the councils to fix them.

High-speed rail consultation initiated by the Government

The government has started its consultation on the proposal to start a rail line from London to Birmingham. This new train would reduce the travelling time by almost 30 minutes. The government officials have claimed that the project would start in 2015 if the proposal has been approved. However, the opponents do not agree to start this high speed rail because they feel that it would waste £17 billion and instead of this project, the government should update the exiting West Coast mainline as that would be a better option.

From the time, the project has been proposed by government it has become a controversy as many people residing along the route have claimed that it would damage the environment.

According to Philip Hammond who is the Transport Secretary, this high speed line (HS2) would improve the UK economy by £44bn. According to Mr. Hammond, "HS2 will be a piece of national infrastructure which will bring benefits to Britain as a whole. Of course we will do everything we can to mitigate the impacts on areas like the Chilterns but projects like this have to be decided on the basis of the national interest and the overall net benefits it will bring to Britain."

There are several business leaders in UK who want this project to continue and some of the important names like CBI director-general John Cridland and former British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh are in favour of this project. However, Lizzie Williams the chairman of Stop HS2 group has described this plan as a waste of taxpayer’s money.

Millions spent to repair potholes in England

Millions have been spent by councils in England to repair the potholes after two severe winters, though many people have said that councils do not have an adequate amount of money to fix them.

According to the Warwickshire county council the estimated cost to repair the roads would be around £25 million to £30 million. On the other hand, Kent County Council said that they have to spend at least £250 million on roads to fix them.

British TV’s ban on product placement has now lifted

Now in UK, paid for references to promote a product or service is now allowed for the first time as the ban has been lifted. This would allow companies to promote their brands to be seen on British TV.  However, some leaders and the Church of England are against this change because they feel that it would damage trust in broadcasters.

To advertise any product or service, the telecom regulators have said that the placement of the product should be editorially justified and it should not be overly prominent. Also it was further added by the telecom regulators that this would not be permitted in news, current affairs programmes and in children’s programmes. Plus, alcoholic drinks and food with high amount of salt, sugar and fat would not be allowed as well.

Many big companies like Coca Cola and Apple pays millions of dollars to TV programmes and films to place their product name or logo to promote their brand. This is very common in countries like USA. The time when European Union removed this ban, many people raised concerns whether this should be allowed or not.