Tories strike again

Thanks in part to Conservative Party mismanagement of the UK transport sector for the last 13 years, things have gotten a bit fraught in the Old Country. And now, I get to spend a bit of extra time getting from Gatwick to my hotel on Saturday:

The Gatwick Express takes about 30 minutes from the airport to London Victoria Station. There is no other train option.

Instead, it looks like I can take a cab straight to my hotel for about £90, or a bus to bloody Heathrow and the Elizabeth Line for about £25. The former will take about an hour. The latter about 2 1/2.

So, I'm on vacation. No expense account. No schedule. Should I spend the extra $55? Sigh. 

You have my sympathy. The rail unions are in a long-running dispute with the train-operating companies, and they seem to have picked June 3rd for its impact, because it's one of the big days in the sporting calendar: the FA Cup Final takes place at Wembley, and there's also the Epsom Derby, one of the big horse-racing meetings of the summer.

I didn't realize that was the strategy. I'm actually on the side of the rail unions here, but I have to admit I wish they'd picked a different day. Y'all need to get the Tories out of power and fix their mess.