YOUR correspondents Dan Laythorpe and Kieran Preston of Metro both lay the blame for congestion in Leeds at London’s door (YEP, October 20 and 26). Do they seriously expect us to believe that London has some kind of vendetta against Leeds, a vendetta that has lasted 40 years? What possible motive could London have for picking on Leeds in this way?
Sheffield, Nottingham, Manchester, Newcastle and Edinburgh have all successfully applied for funding for rapid transit systems. Only Leeds was unsuccessful. The reason the Government gave was that Metro had not demonstrated that the system would provide value for money. This suggests there was a flaw in the business case that was submitted to the Department of Transport.
Of course it’s far easier to blame London for the refusal of funding, than to admit you submitted a faulty business case. After all, if you made an admission to something as serious as that, something with such negative consequences for this city, you would probably have to resign.
AMIT ROY, Moorland Road, Leeds 6
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