I speak from the heart here, but parties of all persuasions have not traditionally seen Transport Secretary as a plum job politically. "It's because you cannot get overnight success, you don't get quick fixes." Considering nearly 150 figures from business, transport and other interested parties had mostly turned up to The Birmingham Post's third Get Moving debate to give Alistair Darling a bit of a roasting, was that sympathy I sensed in the hall? Probably not. However, for a figure whose presence in the West Midlands in recent years has been akin to that of a penguin in equatorial Africa, Darling's performance managed to win some smiles. Not that he offered much hope to a region which boasts the intersection of the national road and rail networks and still has seen only minimal progress on a light-rail system which would befit a conurbation of our size and economic importance. No, he is an Edinburgh lawyer and, as such, manages to combine Scottish prudence (which may or may not be another word for miserliness) with straight-answer-defying legalese. He was questioned on everything from Active Traffic Management on the M42 - a scheme to squeeze as much capacity out of the existing motorway as possible without laying any extra concrete - to the chronic shortage of lorry drivers. All were deftly swerved around, usually with an appeal to long-term thinking rather than short termism. "Stop-go funding has been ruinous as far as transport in this country is concerned. Our basic problem is there has been chronic under-investment from successive governments of whatever colour." He said later: "I often think if previous governments had looked at the roads and the railways with 20 or 30 year plans like we did recently with Aviation, the job of Transport Secretary would be a complete joy. "Unfortunately, it is not always that I'm afraid." Again, there was almost sympathy in the hall but the misty eyes quickly dried when one unidentified voice audibly muttered: "Yes, but in 30 years time you will just turn around and say you don't have the funding." Even on New Street Station, a subject where he could have loosened his tie and claimed some credit (however spurious) for the slow but significant progress being made on a £350 million transformation scheme, he was cagey. "I have to be careful what I say here because I know that when you go to an area and say something critical about it it can come back to haunt you." He needn't have been so defensive. Jerry Blackett, chairman of the West Midlands Business Transport Group, already said it was "the arrivals lounge for Cell Block H". Darling did add: "New Street Station was OK for the 1960s but it certainly isn't suitable for this century. The question is not that. We all know the answer to whether it needs to be improved. "The question is can we get a workable and affordable solution." The Transport Secretary also said he understood the calls for four-tracking on the Coventry to Birmingham rail line but said it was both expensive and physically tough to do. However, he said there would be certain capacity improvements that could be made. Which, with an Edinburgh lawyer turned politician, is about as close to a victory as you'll get. Alistair Darling was forced to dodge pro-hunt protesters when he turned up to address business leaders in Birmingham. About 25 demonstrators carrying placards picketed the Colmore Row offices of Wragge & Co where Mr Darling was due to speak at The Birmingham Post's Get Moving forum. The Transport Secretary had to be led in through a side entrance to avoid the protesters, part of a national campaign against Labour's plans to ban fox-hunting. They accused the Government of being out of touch with the countryside. Silvia Tellwright, aged 66, of the north Staffordshire hunt, said: "I have written to ask them to come and see what we are doing, but they won't come. "They are hugely detached. So that's why we have to come here to protest." Peter Steele, aged 78, also from the Worcestershire hunt, said: "They have no idea what country life is. I made my livelihood from hunting and my children are now trying to do the same." Alison Allman, aged 41, from the North Staffordshire hunt, said: "I have known nothing else since I was nine and I want to carry on doing it. I wonder how many Government Ministers have been out hunting and felt the community of it all." | 
