Sunday 27 October 2013

An Alternative Route


The High Speed 2 rail project was thrown into fresh doubt last night after it emerged that Labour figures have been secretly considering an alternative route.

Cross-party support for the controversial £50 billion scheme is seen as essential, given the long-term funding commitment before the first trains are due to run on the line in 2026.

However, a number of Labour MPs are known to be opposed to the plan and Ed Balls, the shadow chancellor, has been vocal in his scepticism about the project.

Now Mr Balls has been provided with a rival option for a tenth of the price to re-open the Great Central Railway line instead.

The line, which ran from London to Leeds, with a branch to Manchester, closely resembles the proposed route for HS2 but has been closed since 1966.

Kelvin Hopkins, the Labour MP for Luton North, has joined leading supermarket groups, and hauliers to draw up plans to reopen the old line instead of committing to HS2.

He has handed his plans to individuals including Mr Balls and is said to have received a positive response.

The shadow chancellor was recently reported to have been given the final say on whether to approve HS2, although Labour sources have denied that the decision will be his alone.

Mr Balls has warned that he will not write a “blank cheque” and will not support HS2 if costs rise above £50billion.

Mr Hopkins said reopening the central railway would cost an estimated £6 billion and would avoid many environmental concerns associated with HS2.

“We have a very precise route, we have been working on it for a very long time and we are carefully trying to get political support," he said.

The Prime Minister warned on Friday that the high speed rail route could be scrapped if Labour withdraws its support. Many Tory MPs fear that Labour will ditch HS2 shortly before the next election, leaving the Conservatives with an unworkabl, unpopular and costly "white elephant".

Ministers will publish a new business case for the project this week in an attempt to show that the economic benefits far outweigh the costs. MPs will then debate and vote on preparatory legislation, paving the way for a subsequent Bill detailing the full HS2 scheme, on Thursday.

Last week, The Sunday Telegraph disclosed that scores of Tory MPs could vote against the HS2 Bill or abstain, with up to 60 said to be considering rebelling against the government when the final legislation comes before Parliament next year.

This week’s Tory rebellion is expected to be smaller as many MPs will want to back provisions in the “paving bill” which will provide compensation to those residents directly affected by the new route.

Simon Burns, who recently stepped down as Transport Minister responsible for HS2, said that despite the rhetoric from Labour “sources” he was "convinced it will go ahead and it should go ahead".

He said that even as Mr Balls was “monkeying around” and threatening to block the project at the Labour conference last month, senior members of the Opposition were privately assuring the Tories that they would continue to support the plan.

In his first interview since standing down, Mr Burns told The Sunday Telegraph: “It would be very difficult for Labour to do so [oppose HS2].

“First of all it was their project to start with - we supported them. They recognised the benefits it would bring to England and subsequently to Scotland and elsewhere.”

Ed Miliband, he said, was “quite emphatic” in his support for the project. “I know Ed Balls was monkeying around at the Labour conference but we were assured immediately afterwards that Labour were still totally behind the project.

“They would look particularly stupid if they changed their minds now and I have no reason to believe that they will.”

A senior Labour source said last night that the party’s position had not changed: “We support HS2 but we will insist on value for money,” the source said. Labour MPs will not be ordered back to Westminster to vote for the paving bill. The Opposition has imposed the weakest “one-line whip” on the vote because there is no danger that the legislation could be defeated, the source said.

Grant Shapps, the Conservative Chairman, appealed to Lord Adonis, Labour’s former transport secretary, to “stand up” to Mr Balls.

Lord Adonis is now a member of the shadow Treasury team and therefore reports to Mr Balls. He is conducting a review of industrial strategy for Labour and is a passionate supporter of HS2.

Mr Shapps said: “If Labour for narrow, political, short term reasons were to forfeit the national economic future of this country, it would really tell us everything we need to know about the Labour Party and the danger of electing them.

“I would expect people like Lord Adonis to stand up to the kind of gimmickry and short-termism if that’s what Ed Balls and Ed Miliband go for in trying to push such an important project to one side.”

No comments:

Post a Comment