The passion of Adonis
Lord Adonis has found a catchy campaign theme.
He has a £6bn road building programme - which just happens to be the exact sum the Conservatives are planning to cut from public spending if they get elected.
So we hear plenty of the mantra:"£6bn would be in jeopardy if the Conservatives are elected because they would make £6bn of cuts the day after the election."
The Transport Secretary is touring the region, appropriately, by train.
At Ipswich he talks about plans to put more freight on the rails.
At Lowestoft he witnesses the hold-ups caused every time the is raised.
And in Norwich he promises that if Labour gets back in, will definitely be dualled.
That's something none of the other parties can promise.
"We've got a commitment to ongoing investment in road, railways and ports," he says.
"Transport is vital to the region's economy which is why we've trebled investment since 1997."
But how can he make such promises when it's widely assumed that the transport budget will be plundered after the election?
"A good deal of investment comes from the private sector when it comes to ports and railways. My job is to get the best possible deal for the public.
"And we have a £6 billion programme over the next five years in the strategic road network which includes the . We'll protect it as far as we possible can - we can give that commitment - the Conservatives can't because they're committed to faster cuts than us."
When it comes to rail services he talks about speeding up journey times between London and Norwich. He accepts that it's hard to travel from east to west across the region but believes things will improve.
"Remember the Norwich to Cambridge service started under this Government. We want to see more east/west services but you're only going to get that if you have a party in Government that's committed to public services.
"We're committed to working with the private sector to get the best possible deal for transport users."
Lord Adonis is a man who is passionate about transport. He has many aspirations - his challenge will be to protect his department's budget in order to fulfill those aspirations, if his party gets re-elected.
And did I mention he has a £6bn road building programme... ?
Welcome to the political blog for the East. I'm Deborah McGurran, the Â鶹¹ÙÍøÊ×Ò³Èë¿Ú's Political Editor for the region. From Lowestoft to Luton, this is the place for politics with an eastern twist.
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