Tories promise Leicester a rocket to the Moon

Embed from Getty Images

The Conservatives have come up with a headline policy for May's Leicester City Council elections.

They have promised voters a rocket to take them to the moon. The multi-storey car park in Lee Circle will be converted into a space port and daily flights...

Sorry, I have misread this Leicester Mercury report.

In fact, the Tories have promised to build a £500m tram system in Leicester. There is no funding in place, but they assure us it is "doable".

Leicester is close to a one-party state (the Tories and the Lib Dems have one councillor each), so opposition parties need striking ideas to make an impact on the campaign, and I like trams.

But at a time when the county Tories are planning large cuts to bus services, this promotion of a tram system without any money behind it looks like cynicism. But if people give the idea publicity by giving it publicity, it is probably doing its job.

I fear a generation of young politicians has seen the success of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson and decided that a regard for truth is just so much inconvenient baggage of a journey to the top.