JULY 27, 2002

Much ado about nothing...

There was much rumbling in the British press on Saturday about the work which was done on the roads at Silverstone in order to improve the access to the racing circuit. Questions have been tabled demanding that the Prime Minister explain why he gave his personal commitment to improve access to Silverstone and why ministers agreed to rush through work in time for the Grand Prix.

The arguments involved are rather less than convincing as the work on the roads was going to be done anyway as part of the government's road improvement scheme. The A43 link between the M40 and the M1 was considered to be essential because of the normal pressure of cars on the road and the number of accidents that had occurred in the villages. The switch of priorities was based on the very sound economic logic that the Grand Prix brings in around $40m a year in income for the area around Silverstone.

The questions are being asked by the largely irrelevant Liberal Democrats, who seem to be trying to stir up trouble for Prime Minister Tony Blair, because of his previous problems with Formula 1.