One of the many laughable claims from the anti Hs2 campaign is that there’s millions of people who will ditch all other political considerations & priorities to vote for any party that opposes Hs2. Antis try & pretend they have an army of supporters up & down the country who are ready to cause a political earthquake because of Hs2. Like their other claims, this one’s another load of hot air.
UKIP, being the cynical vote chasers they are have ditched their 2010 manifesto pledge to but not one but THREE high speed lines & come out in opposition to Hs2, hoping to hoover up all these votes that are supposedly waiting to be had. The problem is, they don’t exist. UKIP have been lied to by the anti campaign that doesn’t command anything like the level of support they claim & certainly doesn’t have a massive vote bank to hand to UKIP.
Evidence of this is all around us.
Firstly, let’s look at people’s main concerns. Here’s a recent Guardian poll that asked voters what issues most concern them:
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/9/23/1411459719741/MoriIssues.png …
And where’s Hs2 on that list? Nowhere. It doesn’t even rate a mention. People have other prorities. The only people who really care enough to change their vote are some of the people who are directly affected because they live on the route of Hs2. But, many of these people aren’t that die-hard either.
Another good example is the supposed anti Hs2 ‘heartlands’ of Warwickshire & the Chilterns/Bucks.
In 2013 UKIP were confidently expecting they’d gain a massive amount of new Councillors as people voted for them to show their opposition to Hs2. So, how many seats did they win in Warwickshire? Not a single one! The biggest gains were made by Labour – a party that actively supports Hs2. In other areas (such as the North-West) UKIP didn’t even bother campaigning on Hs2, preferring local issues instead.
And in Bucks & the Chilterns?
UKIP did gain seats there. But it was clear that the ‘Hs2 effect’ was confined to the areas the route will actually pass through.
Interestingly enough, the picture for UKIP in the Chilterns has got worse, not better since 2013. In December 2014 there were elections for two Councillors in the Aylesbury Vale district (another supposed anti ‘stronghold). Both were won by, the supposedly unelectable Liberal Democrats!
To add to UKIPs woes, both their rebadged former Tory MPs voted FOR Hs2 & one, Mark Reckless put Farage in the firing line by restating his support for Hs2 as a UKIP MP.
Farage was forced into admitting that Hs2 is not a ‘big ticket issue’ for the party.
2015 has got off to an even worse start as a Chilterns UKIP Cllr has defected to the Tories.
This has exposed the fact that neither UKIP or the Tories are really that worried by the anti Hs2 campaign. It’s been clear for some time that anti’s have been writing political cheques they can’t cash by promising levels of support they don’t have. It seems that fact has finally dawned on UKIP too. The antis also seem to have quietly dropped their ineffective ‘no votes for you with Hs2’ as it scared no-one & didn’t persuade a single MP to change sides.
The forthcoming general election has the potential to be a disaster for the anti Hs2 campaign who’ve firmly nailed their flag to the UKIP mast. The party’s been battered in the media & the polls as their extremist tendencies, fruitloop membership & infighting has attracted negative attention, the idea that it will be in any position to deliver on its promise to ‘StopHs2’ looks more & more ridiculous as time goes on.
Paul Bigland 
No mention of the Greens who are also anti HS2 in your rather gloating and self absorbed summation. They are seeing a huge swell in membership currently from disaffected Labour voters I would guess.
The only cheques that won’t be cashed will be for HS2 as it will increasingly prove to not be a spending priority against the ongoing structural fiscal issue of falling tax receipts and the unwillingness of the Private Sector to invest because they know a complete dud when they see one.
I didn’t mention the Greens because that piece was about the Anti Hs2 mob & UKIP. I’ll be examining the Greens incoherent Transport policy at a later date. But, let’s have a quick look at the Greens. They won’t save the anti Hs2 campaign either. Despite a rise in membership they’ve no heartland other than the Brighton area – and their actions there have hardly covered them in glory. If the Greens get more than a couple of MPs in 2015 they’ll be doing very well indeed. Even if that happened they won’t be in a position to stop Hs2
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/27/green-party-2015-ukip-protest-vote-general-election
As for Hs2 not being a ‘spending priority’, that’s a prediction those opposed to Hs2 have made from the start.It didn’t stand up then and it doesn’t stand up now. And, (like most anti arguments) it ignores inconvenient facts, such as the one that the West Coast and East Coast main lines are running out of capacity & are becoming increasingly less resilient as we try and squeeze more and more trains onto them.You can ignore that problem if you want, but it isn’t going to go away because you can’t deal with it.
A supposed lack of private sector investment is just another red herring. It’s far too early in the project to expect any serious commitments from the private sector. Plus, there’s no need at this time as the Government has announced it’s financially committed to the project. Meanwhile, the Hs2 supply chain conferences have shown the huge amount of private sector interest in the project. If you think this is somehow a reason to stop Hs2, you’re going to be sadly disappointed.
But then anti Hs 2 groups like yours George (you’re from Colton against Hs2) have been kidding themselves about the political, technical & economic realities of Hs2 for years. It’s why, ultimately, you’ve been so ineffective.
Your opening sentence states “any party that opposes HS2” so it’s disingenuous to say it was entirely about UKIP. Furthermore I made no mention or suggest that the Greens would come riding to anyone’s rescue . As often seems to be the case you again have missed the point entirely. A tenet of your piece makes reference to the Labour and Liberal Party gains in HS2 affected electoral constituencies and I was merely pointing out the latent emergence of a left leaning constituency for protest votes (Millibands UKIP if you like) something relevant that you had elected to ignore completely.
Another erroneous supposition is that the GE is the be all and end all of opposition strategy. It’s not by a long chalk. HS2 is the biggest of all big ticket items and as Liam Byrne eloquently put it some years ago now “the money’s gone”. The main cuts to public services have yet to happen and tax increases required to cover both the structural tax problem and support public services whilst supporting spending on poor value tax payer funded infrastructure projects, politically unpalatable. HS 2 will do a magnificent job of making itself unpopular with yet more to come as the inevitable cost and timing overruns against a continuing background of spending cuts and tax increases, bring it to the focus of those who currently don’t care enough about it to “rate a mention” whilst providing News Editors with juicy negative stories for years. It is the Millenium Dome times 100 in its capacity to write its own headlines. As for private investment -red herring really? It’s not too early for Hinckley Power station or numerous renewable and fracking projects with investors lining up to pile in. The Chairman of Legal and General has publicly labelled it a dud so get real and stop being delusional.
Finally if you actually confidently believe that Hs2 is the done deal and opposition to it so dead in the water to the degree your outpourings suggest , then why the hell do you constantly keep writing about it in such a defensive and obsessive way. Why not kick back, chill and just look forward to photographing the first HS2 train the ” Lord David Cameron” pull out of Euston or er Old Oak Common or er possibly even Tring on its first day of operation in 2023 or 2025 or is it 2030? Who knows but I am sure it’s going to be great!
I repeat, that entry is about UKIP & the anti Hs2 campaign.There’s nothing ‘disingenuous’ & the Greens will get examined in their own piece.
The one interesting aspect of your reply is the tacit admittance that the anti Hs2 campaign’s been a failure. Now your only hope is that someone else (ie UKIP) or some other event will stop Hs2. That speaks volumes about the failure of the groups opposing Hs2. Now you’re hoping there’s some fairy Godmother that will stop Hs2 for you as it’s clear you can’t.
As for Labour voters supporting UKIP, such support won’t stop Hs2 as there are few areas Hs2 passes through where it would matter. You also refuse to learn from reality. When UKIP campaigned in the Labour held constituency of Wythenshaw, they didn’t even mention Hs2. Oh, and they lost anyway.
As for ‘inevitable’ cost overruns, that’s another fondly held anti myth. We’re spending £15bn building Crossrail, which is on budget. The fact is, we’re pretty good at delivering big ticket items on time & on budget, despite the scare stories your campaign’s peddled over the years. Again, that’s one of your problems. You ignore inconvenient facts others don’t. You’ve tried this scaremongering for years. It hasn’t worked. It still doesn’t. If ‘cost overruns’ are part of your ‘strategy’ (when it’s nothing you can control or have any influence over at all), then your strategy is intellectually bankrupt.
Finally, it’s clear that you find scrutiny of the anti hs2 uncomfortable. One again, I’m going to disappoint you. Your campaign has lied & deceived for years & some sections of the media have either colluded with you or given you an easy ride. But that is changing. Myself and some of my colleagues in the national trades media will continue to comment & keep you under scrutiny, exposing those lies & pointing out the reality behind your deceits. So, you’d better get used to it…
Yet again your obsession is blinding you to what I am saying rather than than what you want to hear. I dont know how on earth you glean any tacit acceptance to anything from my reply or why you think I am a UKIP supporter. I dont find your type of scrutiny of anti HS2 in the slightest bit uncomfortable, I am more discomforted by your verbal reasoning skills and more typically of those banging the drum for HS2, why you continue to avoid the actual issues raised in my reply.
The project is growing in unpopularity across all social groups and areas FACT and this despite huge amounts of PR and spin including five revisions to its raison d’être. It has the potential to continue to be a major political embarrassment given the problems facing the economy regardless of who is in charge FACT. That is not my personal view but straight from a number of cross party MP’s that I have regular dialogue with. There isn’t any need for a fairy godmother nor is one being sought. Regarding the failure or otherwise of anti HS2 groups it’s growing unpopularity might be viewed as one success when you consider relative resources of a small bunch of people in Village Halls pitted against the might of the likes of the Westbourne Communications spin machine et al.
In any event it’s all a bit premature as nothing is fully sanctioned to be built and through the brilliance and supreme talent of the schemes promoters after five years. there are still some rather fundamental problems to sort such as where and how it is going to get in and out of London at the same time as meeting our obligations to deliver the EU Rail Freight Corridor Ten-T obligations in the same time frame. As they say, there’s many a slip between cup and lip.
Crossrail in scale, scope and need is no benchmark for the outcomes of HS2 and again I remind you that there is Private Sector involvement and appetite there as opposed to solely the dead hand of Government.
Before I turn and flee from the dread and might of the “national trades media” (turkey’s and voting for Xmas come to mind) please could you answer the following specifics.
Why do you think HS2 remains so unpopular when it’s claimed benefits are so “huge”.
Whose the “we” when you refer to Crossrail?
What is the final cost of Hs2 in your view?
As soon as someone uses the word ‘fact’ as a backstop, especially when they use capital letters you know that their argument is anything but factual.You can claim what you like about opinion polls. The truth is, they really don’t change anything much at all. The poll that mattered when it came to Hs2 was the one MPs voted on – the Hybrid Bill. That’s the one where 452 MPs to 41 voted for Hs2. Anything else is an irrelevance. The fact the anti Hs2 campaign clings to the results of polls simply shows how powerless they are. You admitted you have no way of stopping Hs2, you merely hope someone else will.But feel free to prove me wrong & tell us all how the Stop Hs2 campaign have a ‘cunning plan’ that will work.
Anyway, those village hall ‘resources’, what have they done except wasting a lot of money on buying Rolexes for lawyers? Apart from helping to fund 22 failed legal actions, name a single thing the anti Hs2 mob have achieved?
You’re a classic example of why the anti Hs2 mob have got nowhere. You can’t admit that you’re not setting the agenda.
Mr Bigland, you know that Mr Burda is anti HS2, however you do not know who I am, whether I am anti or pro or in fact undecided about HS2, let’s assume for now that I am undecided, I would like to make three points:-
(1) In your last reply, once again you failed to answer Mr Burda’s questions, something you have done throughout this exchange.
(2) I agree with your comment vis a vis the importance of the HS2 poll cast at Westminster in comparison to the HS2 polls cast in the press, however the polls cast in the press are the people of the United Kingdom speaking, the poll cast in Westminster where 650 MPs (in the case of the 2nd reading of the HS2 Hybrid Bill 493 MPs) voted as directed by their Whips, in many, many instances they did not vote either the way their constituents wanted them to or expected them to or even worse they abstained, from the research that I have done the result would have be very different had it been a free vote.
(3) In my ‘ageing’ eyes, Mr Burda is winning this exchange at the moment, my main reason for this opinion? Quite simply I agree with Mr Burda in that you would not be working so hard to prove that HS2 is good for the United Kingdom, if you really do believe that it is a done deal.
Actually Mr Graham Dellow (from Mid Cheshire against Hs2), I do know who you are and I claim my five pounds! You are another of those opposed to Hs2 but who pretend otherwise (a typical anti Hs2 tactic & one that merely exposes what a dishonest bunch those opposed to Hs2 are). You’re from the small group that protested in Manchester when Sir David Higgins launched his ‘Hs2 Plus report’ How many of you were there, pretending to be from Manchester? 8-10? Oh look, here you are on the left, holding a ‘Stop Hs2’ placard:
http://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/p898759480/h33e8358c
So, no, let’s not ‘assume’ you’re undecided, because that would be yet another lie, wouldn’t it?
Once again a mish mash of obsessive ranting about the anti campaign laced with erroneous supposition that’s not based on fact or understanding. Why are you so bothered with the effectiveness of the anti campaign if things are as cushty as you claim and it’s dead and buried?
Not one attempt to answer the specific points and questions raised. Really that’s so HS2 you must be on the staff!
Opinion Polls matter in the present day political arena that’s why Political parties invest so heavily in them. One poll proved a game changer in the recent Scottish Referendum. Only a fool would think otherwise.
The Identity Card Bill, popular with politicians and vested interests not with voters, had a similar voting pattern at second reading and I don’t recall being stopped and asked for my papers recently. £12 billion spent there and it ended up in the trash.So it ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
As I said before there’s no imperative for a “cunning plan” because HS2 Ltd are doing a great job of killing it off themselves with their constant inability to provide the essential quantified detail to underscore a project of this size. That’s why the private investors are giving it a wide berth, it’s required 5 relaunches and now resembles HS2 minus not HS2 plus with the increased de scoping. Lord May wouldn’t have them mow his lawn let alone build a railway apparently.
If I had a fiver for every grass roots activist that I spoke to who venomously stated their opposition to HS2 during the recent Party Conference season it would be me buying the Rolexes. The most vociferous being Labour rank and file and we were in Hs2ville Manchester to boot.
HS2 still unpopular then and in classic HS2 style YOU HAVENT ANSWERED ANY OF MY QUESTIONS.
which for the second time of asking
Whose the “we” when you refer to Crossrail?
What’s the final cost of HS2 in your opinion?
I am keen to hear your response to the last question particularly as you said that you state cost overruns are “a fondly held anti myth” and “we’re pretty good at delivering big ticket items on time and on budget” Again who is the “we”?
I must have been dreaming when I looked up those hefty time and budget overruns on the recent West Coast Mainline four tracking then. Oh look!! It’s a matter of public record not a dream or a myth at all!!
The intellectual bankruptcy my friend, is all yours I am afraid.
I’m afraid this is one of those posts where you can easily play ‘anti Hs2 mob bingo’, spotting the usual trite phrases & deceits that those opposed to Hs2 trot out on a regular basis.
If you want to believe opinion polls will somehow stop Hs2 you’re perfectly free to keep kidding yourself. Meanwhile, in the real world, the projects goes from strength to strength as Hs2 Ltd expands & recruits. To pretend the anti Hs2 camp don’t need a plan to Stop Hs2 merely confirms everything I’ve said. You’re a bunch of useless buggers who’ve failed in your mission. I’m merely highlighting that fact. Now you’re keeping your fingers crossed that someone else will do the job that you’re clearly incapable of. That’s not much of a plan, is it? None the less. I’ll continue to highlight your campaign’s failures because it sounds like you’ll be providing the opportunity to do so for a little while yet.
Meanwhile you repeat the tired old deceit that anyone who supports Hs2 must be on their payroll. Again, it might make you feel better to believe such nonsense, but then your campaign has been convincing itself black is white for several years now. For the record, I am not, nor ever have been employed by Hs2 Ltd in any capacity & I am not paid by anyone to tweet about Hs2 or write this blog. There, is that clear enough for you now?
As for refusing to answer your questions. Why should I waste time on speculative nonsense. How much will Hs2 finally cost? Let’s wait and see. Oh, as for ‘we’ – that’s us, the UK, you know, Britain – the country to which we all belong to as citizens!
But I will respond directly to the very obvious deceit about the cost of the Trent Valley four tracking. There were no “hefty time and budget overruns on the recent West Coast Mainline four tracking” The project was both on time and budget. I note that you provide no evidence for your claims, so, no change there then. This level of dishonesty is what we’ve grown to expect from the anti Hs2 campaign. Your inability to tell the truth & hide from it is a very good example of why your campaign’s been so ineffectual & will continue to be so.
There is something rather touching about the “anti” camp, especially when it has to resort to the standard troll approach of capitalising the word “fact” while producing nothing of the sort to substantiate the ravings. Incoherent transport policies are a speciality of most major political parties, principally because, as the Guardian poll demonstrates, it is not the primary driving force of GB-wide political campaigns. Issues will swing the odd constituency here and there, and in the disparate environment of the 2015 General Election this may be of some significance in the ultimate composition of the House of Commons.
Mr Burda’s points, when you can get past his mangled syntax, appear to a mixture of the kind of anti-rail phobia that provides much amusement for students of 19th century history and a justifiable suspicion that project management is not all it could be where it comes to controlling costs. Perhaps he has spent time examining the Highways Agency, who will be in charge of increasing North-South capacity in the absence of new railway links, or Ministry of Defence procurements.
The evidence on the current management of Crossrail 1 in London suggests that effective procurement, contract design and ongoing scrutiny provides sufficient assurance. In a complex project, individual elements will invariably change over time, and, horrifically, some costs will over-run while others will come in below budget – only in a world populated by paragons of probity with 20-20 foresight would this be anything other than normal. It makes me wonder why Mr Burda wastes time on commenting on blogs when he combine the wisdom of Solomon with the financial acumen of Warren Buffett.
What Mr Burda and his ilk fail to offer is any form of coherent narrative beyond “upgrading the existing network”, without any costing or assessment of the impact on current users. Instead we get assertions of a mass of “grassroots” support, without evidence of its existence beyond the kind of saloon-bar anecdotes beloved of the splenetic. This is the Taxpayers Alliance (sic) fallacy – claiming mass support for what can charitably be described as a self-interested, self-selecting ginger group.
I started out as a sceptic about the requirements for new rail capacity, and therefore about the fundamental case for HS2. During the process, as with anyone capable of assessing evidence, I have read volumes of material from all sides of the debate. The work carried out for the two Higgins report and by the political and business leadership of the West Midlands, the North of England and Scotland is substantively more convincing in its internal logic and evidencet han the current anti-HS2 campaign. Mr Burda and Mr Dellow are clearly riled, or they would not be spending so much time making ad hominem attacks on an independent blogger.
This is not in itself sufficient to swing any undecided supporter, but it does rather prove Mr Bigland’s fundamental hypothesis, however much some of these individuals may wish to delude themselves otherwise.
Ah! We have a new voice enter the debate, the splendidly named Dionysus Lardner. Sir, you are either hiding behind a nom de plume for reasons it would be easy to assume as sinister or you indeed have my deepest sympathies. Life has indeed dealt you a cruel hand!
Mangled syntax or otherwise (never did John Prescott any harm) I will attempt again to take the discussion away from the Kindergarten.
1. An answer at last in respect of HS2 employment which I accept. What about Network Rail though? Enough involvement to class as a vested interest?
2. What’s speculative about the cost of HS2. It’s £52 Billion including trains and contingency as far as those 452 MP’s who voted for it are concerned. Are you saying it’s costs are actually open ended? That wont help the project’s unpopularity when going to the country stating it’s going to cost whatever it’s going to cost against a backdrop of further hard choices on cuts and spending priorities.
3. Ah! The Royal we. As a fellow citizen rest assured you don’t speak for me with your biased and bigoted views. In a democracy we each have the right to raise alternate views and ask vexing questions without being lumped into a tribal group or abused as you are automatically prone to doing. Get some therapy mate you need serious help.
4.West Coast four tracking came in on time and budget just because you say so. Hansard,The Public Accounts Committee etc have got it all completely wrong then!
Well again in the interests of your rehabilitation, can I suggest that most right minded people believe a budget and timetable to be the total sum of money required for a purpose prior to commencement of such purpose. For a definition of timetable substitute “sum of money” for time.
I expressly challenge you to confirm that the West Coast four tracking came in on time and budget and that HS2 will come in the same using the aforementioned terms of reference.
Classic nonsense & spin that shows why the anti Hs2 mob have such a troubled relationship with the truth. What’s the ‘west coast four tracking’ when it’s at home? The facts are the four tracking was one specific scheme under the banner of the West Coast Route Modernisation. Specifically – it was four tracking the line through the Trent Valley. This scheme was both on time and on budget. Claims to the contrary are a complete deception (one I notice you can’t provide a single shred of evidence for). If Hansard really does mention the TV4 scheme was as you claim, why not provide a link? In fact, feel free to provide any official documentation that supports your assertion. But then we both know the answer to that. You can’t. Your campaign really is the most dishonest I’ve ever come across. It’s plainly obvious why you failed. Your relationship with the truth is horribly compromised. You may continue to fool yourselves with this nonsense. You may even fool a few gullible souls too, but what’s clear is you will never fool open-minded, intelligent people.
Your logical fallacies are typical of your campaign. You get caught out lying about the true cost & timetable of Trent Valley, then try & shift the onus to others to prove you’re not lying rather than you provide evidence to support your claims in the first place. Is it any wonder the anti Hs2 mob have such a well-earned reputation for dishonesty? Just look at your fellow anti Hs2 contributor who’s been caught out pretending he’s ‘impartial’ so he can wade in to support you. You lot are laughable, you really are…
My final riposte is to your daft claims of ‘vested interests’. This is another wonderful example of the intellectual bankruptcy of your campaign. Because, let’s face it, people who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. The biggest ‘vested interests’ are the Nimbys who oppose Hs2 but who have the bare-faced cheek to use that label on others. In fact, we’re all vested interests as a project that benefits ‘UK PLC’ benefits us all. But then logic never was a strong point of the anti Hs2 campaign.
I will supply all the evidence necessary to illuminate what utter nonsense you have written above because Its becoming clearer to me by the nature of your responses that you do not have the first clue about the relevant detail. Smoke and mirrors with you the one whose being dishonest.
Dodging specific questions again, on the HS2 budget this time deploying your usual distraction tactic of bigoted ranting about anyone who has the temerity to challenge your frankly ignorant views.
As for classifying yourself as open minded and intelligent I am sorry but your head is as empty as the Treasury coffers.
I will supply all the relevant evidence in a time of my choosing as I am getting really bored with your obfuscation and constant dragging me back in to the kindergarten again so please spare me and yourself some time by skipping your default diatribe in reply.
On the evidence of your “swerve” on my vested interest question I’ll take that as a yes.
So, go on then. Supply evidence that the Trent Valley 4 tracking scheme was both late and over budget. We’d all love to see it. The problem is you know you can’t. It doesn’t exist because it isn’t true. So, instead, you bluster. There is no Hansard ‘evidence’. There are no other official documents either. You’ve caught yourself out with another stupid attempt to deceive.
You’ve provided a great illustration of why I’ve started this blog & why I will continue to expose the way the anti Hs2 campaign are strangers to the truth. Your whole campaign is based on lies, distortions & trying to mislead people. You may fool a few poor souls who don’t have the time or the knowledge to question you. But when someone does, your deceit is so very, very easy to expose.
Your campaign is entirely negative. Look at the way you grasp any opportunity to run down the UK, scaremongering about fictional cost overruns (whilst ignoring every successful project). In your frightened little world, nothing would ever get done as you’d have everyone indoctrinated with fear of failure & a ‘can’t do’ attitude.
A campaign that has deception & negativity as its bedrock was never going to succeed, nor have you. Your only reason the anti Hs2 campaign exists is to stop Hs2 and, at that, you’ve failed miserably. You’ve helped me to show why that is.
Meanwhile. The Hs2 Hybrid Bill continues its progress through Parliament.The Committee will hear 19 petitions this week. What will the anti campaign response be? Nothing, apart from ranting on social media as you’ve run out of ideas & options.
Dear oh dear. A cut and paste of your previous diatribes.
The important point you miss in all the above is that the imperative does not sit with me to provide the evidence but on you to defend the point properly because
I AM NOT THE PERSON THAT HAS PUT THEMSELF ON A PEDESTAL AS SOME SORT OF TRANSPORT EXPERT OR WHOSE VIEWS HAVE GRAVITAS
As I said previously, evidence in a time of MY choosing not yours. In the meantime there is a growing list of points unaddressed by anything other than your singular stock cut and paste reply and the answer to why that should be is simple.
You don’t know. All the content above and your continued stock default reply regardless of the points raised lead me to conclude that you are the village idiot posing as some kind of expert.
Specific to your latest rant
There is clear evidence and the fact that you can’t shoot me down says it all. More smoke and mirrors.
No distortion but uncomfortable and inconvenient truths that threaten you myopic train spotters with a few less numbers to chart at the weekend.
Not running down the UK at all. What are the successful projects that you accuse us of running down? I am not aware of any but I suppose it depends on your terms of reference for what counts as successful. I laid some of mine out last time which again you comprehensively ignored.
It’s not about” can’t do “its about being realistic and recognising political hubris over tangible benefit and stop digging when you are in a hole.
The reason for the negativity is inbuilt. HS2 is a profoundly negative project and in its current form all downside and no upside to use business parlance.
By the way your smugness and arrogance are really quite in a class of their own own. I don’t see any permission to start or ground being broken let alone trains running so it’s a bit premature to be claiming any sort of victory just yet.
Many a slip between cup and lip as they say.
Thank you for once again demonstrating what a strange group of people are attracted to the anti Hs2 camp. There’s not a single thing in that lengthy diatribe worth responding to but I’m happy to let it pass because it rather neatly illustrates what I’ve been saying about the anti Hs2 campaign. I mentioned earlier that whilst the Hybrid Bill Cttee would be wading through petition, antis would be reduced to splentic ranting on Twitter. Boy, did you prove me right on that one…!
I am sure you are very happy to let it pass because the actual knowledge affording you any credibility to substantively comment is missing to the same degree as the business, capacity, environmental and spending priority case for HS2!!
Your rationale for spending £52 billion pounds plus at a time of Increasing fiscal pressure begins and ends with the fact that it’s a shiny sexy looking new train full stop.
As for splenetic, the above exchanges amply demonstrate that’s ALL you have got in your locker.
Bless…
Meanwhile, back in the real world, the H2 Hybrid Bill Committee are moving on with petitions to ensure Hs2 gets Royal Assent in 2016.
Yes. There really is no accounting for some peoples ignorance and stupidity.
After all they are largely the same culprits that gave “the real world” the Millennium Dome!