Congestion Charge

Only just managed to find the time to have a decent look at the final results from the Congestion Charge poll.

I was saying on Thursday that it was going to be a walk over, but I didn't realise it would be quite this heavy a defeat for the Manchester socialists, with about 4 out of 5 people voting against the charge:

Manchester yes 43,593 no 113,064 rejected 250
Rochdale yes 17,333 no 61,686 rej 118
Bolton yes 20,529 no 76,910 rejected 167
Bury yes 16,563 no 64,001 rej 94
Bolton yes 17,571 no 68,884 rej 141
Salford yes 14,603 no 79,326 rej 105
Stockport yes 24,090 no 103,706 rej 169
Tameside yes 16,323 no 83,105 rej 124
Trafford yes 20,445 no 83,568 rej 142
Wigan yes 27,810 no 78,565 rej 132

But fun aside, some of the comments from the "no" camp have been quite terrifying.

Lord Peter Smith (Lab), leader of Wigan MBC described it as "a vote against improvements on Metrolink, on railways and on buses".

The GMFT webste is packed full of tripe about throwing away the investment and people missing the chance for more seats on trains.

When will these people understand that we do want that, and we're happy to pay for it, but we're not happy to be hoodwinked and bullied into it - which is what the "yes" camp and the government attempted to do with this poll.

I don't like bullies. Never have done. Was bullied quite a lot at primary school - ended up with a broken arm - but that's another story. At least it's clear now where all those playground bullies forge themselves a career.

And at least after last Thursday it's clear that the British won't stand for it...