Category Archives: General election

Parliament’s back to work & the HS2 Bill moves on

27 Wednesday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2, Hs2aa, Politics, StopHs2

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Today’s Queen’s speech means Parliament is back at work & progress on the Hs2 Hybrid Bill will pick up where it left off – with a slight amendment. One of the Hybrid Bill members lost his seat at the election so a replacement will need to be found for the former Lib-Dem MP for Eastleigh, Mike Thornton. There’s speculation in some circles that his replacement will come from the SNP as they’ve replaced the Lib-Dems as the 3rd largest. We shall have to wait and see…

Continuity is also the name of the game over at the Department of Transport where Patrick McLaughlin remains in post as Transport Minister. This is good news for the rail industry and Hs2 as there’s no need to get a new Minister up to speed with what needs to be done.

Of course, all this is bad news for the anti Hs2 camp who don’t seem know which way to turn now their ‘great white hope’ (UKIP) has vanished in a cloud of voting papers – taking a huge chunk of the anti Hs2 tweeters with them. The anti Hs2 mobs Twitter campaign has descended into farce since the election. There are still a few blowhards hanging on from the old days who think ranting on the internet changes anything but many of them are isolated individuals with no backing, or what can be charitably called ‘special people’. Here’s a typical example of the isolated Tweeter from that well known hotbed of anti hs2 activism. Err, Lisburn, in Northern Ireland (‘hotbed’? Are you sure this is right? Ed).

Busker

The folks who are noticeable by their absence nowadays are the supposed ‘action group’ network although this is hardly surprising. They’ve been in decline for years & really have nowhere to go anymore. The Hybrid Bill petitioning process has drawn any sting they might have thought they had – and the election results have shown they’ve no political clout (even at a local council level). Their public rallies have been abandoned as an embarrassment as so few folks turn up. So there’s little reason for their existence any more.

I do genuinely feel sorry for the people who are affected by Hs2 & who’ve been gulled into thinking the anti campaign really could stop Hs2. They’ve been given false hope & some of them have thrown away both time & money. The election results have shown that the scales have dropped from quite a few eyes. Sadly it’s too much to hope that the people who cynically exploit them (StopHs2 & Hs2aa) will suffer an outbreak of honesty, realism or contrition. However, the good news is that as their activist base dies a source of funding dries up too. As StopHs2 funds come predominantly from one man – it’s anyone’s guess when he’ll see sense & stops throwing his money away.

As another example of a campaign going nowhere fast I’ve updated the antis ‘scores on the doors’. These show their social media growth (or not!) on Facebook & Twitter.

Hs2

The usual caveats apply. Not all followers are supporters etc…

Looking through social media the anti’s sense of aggrieved bewilderment is obvious. Some of them had bought into their own hype so completely they still can’t admit what had really happened at the election. There’s complete denial over the implications of their general election no-show & risible ‘no votes for you with Hs2’campaign (which influenced no-one at all). What none of them will talk about or deal with is the awkward question of ‘how are we going to Stop Hs2 now’? Because the answer is staring them in the face. They can’t. At the risk of falling in the trap of Godwin’s law – I can only compare them to the last days of the Third Reich & the mentality inside the bunker as the Russians closed in, with UKIP in the role of General Felix Steiner’s Army Detachment.

No doubt there’ll still be media speculation & a fair bit of froth in the next few months as the Hs2 Hybrid Bill continues its course through Parliament but the position is clear. There’s no credible opposition to Hs2 & there’s even less of a credible alternative. Rail passenger growths continues apace as the economy picks up – and look out for some interesting statistics & comments to appear from Virgin Trains on their West Coast business.

Election 2015 – an absolute disaster for the anti Hs2 campaign.

08 Friday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2

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Phew – what an election night that was! Those pundits claiming it was going to be boring were proved wrong. Then again, so were the pollsters. So much for a hung Parliament and another coalition…

I’ll ignore my personal disappointment at the overall result to focus on the implications for HS2 and a look at how badly the night went for the anti Hs2 campaign. OK, let’s not beat about the bush here it didn’t go ‘badly’ – it was an outright disaster. Throughout the election campaign I’ve been blogging about how the anti campaign’s been writing cheques it can’t cash. Their laughable ‘no votes for you with Hs2’ being the classic example of hype & hyperbole. Now the results are in and so we can cut through the spin & look at the reality.

First off has to be the supposed anti Hs2 ‘strongholds’ which are the Chilterns & Warwickshire. The results in both are very, very telling. Antis claimed Hs2 was the pivotal event that would decide the election in North Warwickshire (formerly held by Dan Byles MP, who was standing down). The result?

N warks

Well, that went well then! Meanwhile, in the Chilterns, UKIP were making great play of their opposition to Hs2 as they expected it would deliver them Aylesbury. After all – wasn’t this the epicentre of opposition to Hs2 with the whole county up in arms about the project? Obviously not…

Ayesbury

As the article states, Lidlington’s vote was down a mere 1.5% which, when you consider the outrageous claims of the anti Hs2 campaigners is a pretty damning indictment of their supposed influence. Mind you, If I was UKIP I’d be very pissed off with the anti hs2 mob. They promised the party thousands of votes & failed to deliver every time. It’s clear UKIP were fooled into banking their votes, assuming this meant they were a shoo-in at constituencies Hs2 passed through.

It’s not just the general election either. There were council elections too. Here’s the results in another supposed stronghold of the anti Hs2 campaign – Wendover in Bucks, where all 3 seats were won by the Tories.

Wendover

In fact, there’s nowhere the anti Hs2 campaign manifested itself in the popular vote. They failed to wield any influence in their supposed ‘strongholds’ or anywhere else on the route. As for away from the route – forget it! I’ve long said that their campaign’s a chimera, oft talked about but never seen. Sections of the media have given them an easy ride & never scrutinised their claims. That needs to change & I hope this blog will encourage fellow journalists to do that.

Back in the real world it’s clear that Hs2 will continue just as soon as Parliament reconvenes. The election result couldn’t have been worse for the anti Hs2 campaign. The Tories return without coalition partners, UKIP have been emasculated and the one Labour front bencher who was seen as wavering on Hs2 (Ed Balls) has lost his seat.

One can’t help wondering how long it’ll be before those who fund StopHs2 & the other anti organisations wake up, smell the coffee & realise they’re only throwing their money way…

UPDATE:

After grabbing a few hours sleep I’ve woken up to find some of the anti Hs2 mob are still dreaming! A quick look at social media has shown just how utterly deluded members of their campaign are. Here’s a few examples;

Crazy

Talk about being in denial? The PM’s just been re-elected for another 5 years with the Hs2 antis having shown they’ve absolutely no electoral clout – even in the Chilterns.

More delusions that aren’t even worth commenting on..

Bonkers 2

Bonkers 3

Daft

Oh, there’s one result that speaks volumes. The only constituency that had someone standing purely on an anti Hs2 ticket was Westminster North. Here’s the result.

Westminster Nth

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/politics/constituencies/E14001036

So, what next for the anti Hs2 mob? The oblivion I predicted earlier in the year. They’ve had the worst possible result. Within hours of the results becoming clear, returning Chancellor George Osborne tweeted this:

Osborne

Of course, Hs2 is a major plank of Osborne’s Northern powerhouse…

I predict it won’t be long before Warks millionaire Joe Elliott (the man who’s bankrolled StopH2) finally puts his chequebook away & that group folds. Will Hs2aa be far behind?

Crunch time for the anti Hs2 mob…

07 Thursday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2, Hs2aa

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Today the anti Hs2 campaign finishes its electoral campaign not with a bang but a whimper.

What’s been remarkable is how low key their campaign has been. Admittedly, both StopHs2 and Hs2aa are skint due to a shortage of donors & having blown all their money on futile court cases so a big poster or mainstream media campaign was out of the question. The only way they could try & make a fuss was on social media but even that’s been quiet. If it wasn’t for UKIP supporters desperately trying to keep the issue alive in the vain hope of grabbing some votes there’s be bugger all going on. Remember, there’s meant to be THREE main groups opposing Hs2. The presence of one (AGHAST) has been so off the radar it’s positively subterranean! Their Campaigns Manager, Deanne Dukhan (@DuKhanD)has tweeted a grand total of twice this month & only a handful of times during the entire campaign. No-one else from AGHAST has even bothered. Mind you, up to the start of the election their campaign website was STILL advertising a petition that closed in 2012 so it’s not really a surprise.

Contrast this with the antis fantasy claims of a million people ‘blighted’ by Hs2, or that the majority of the UK opposes the project & you really do have to wonder what planet they’re living on. Whatever it is – it obviously doesn’t have access to Facebook, Twitter or the letters pages of UK newspapers!

Poor Hs2aa have tried to pretend they’re still an influence by recycling the same old lies, like the £138bn ‘cost’ of Hs2 I exposed here

Their latest wheeze is a ‘thunderclap’. Here’s the explanation from their website.

thunderclap

What’s laughable about this is the fact they never learn. Last year the anti Hs2 campaign tried what’s known as a ‘Twitterstorm’. The idea was that if enough people tweet about Hs2 the hashtag would ‘trend’ – showing their influence & how many folks were opposed. The result was nothing short of total embarrassment. Less than 100 folks tweeted. All it demonstrated was how few real people supported them. They’ve never tried it since. Until now…

Here’s their results so far.

hs2aa

Embarrassing, isn’t it? Remember this is a campaign that claims to represent the views of millions of people & that Hs2 is such an important issue it could seriously influence the result of the election. These ridiculous claims will be laid bare on Friday – and I’ll let you know how their ‘thunderclap’ goes as I doubt anyone will hear it otherwise!

In the meantime, I’ll be staying up to watch the election results tonight. I’m looking forward to one or two ‘popcorn moments’ – especially the one from Thanet South. I’ll be taking time to Tweet & run this blog until tiredness or boredom sets in.

More election dishonesty from Hs2aa.

03 Sunday May 2015

Posted by in Anti Hs2 mob, General election, Hs2, Hs2aa, Politics

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Having blown all their money (and that of a lot of taxpayers) on futile attempts to stop Hs2 in the courts the High Speed 2 Action Alliance (Hs2aa) is doing very little nowadays. However, it has produced a card to help support the ineffective ‘no votes for you with hs2’ campaign. It’s their usual mixture of spin & lies in the form of 5 loaded ‘questions’ that are supposedly meant to put MPs ‘on the spot’.

HS2_5QuestionsForAnyoneWhoWantsYourVote-724x1024

I’ve dissected each for the benefit of those MPs who might not know how to deal with these loaded questions.

1). 452 MPs have already answered this by passing the Hs2 Hybrid Bill with a massive majority! Contrast that thumping total to the 41 MPs who voted against the bill. As Hs2 remains the policy of all the major political parties & all those likely to form the next Government I don’t think this one will bother any MPs.

2). “Hs2’s absurdly high speed, faster than any other train operating in Europe” – claims Hs2aa. Like most of their other claims it’s load of deceitful rubbish. Hs2 is designed to allow trains to run at 400kph in the future when the technology allows. In the meantime, they’re expected to run at 360kph. In fact, that technology already exists and started running in Italy last week. TRENITALIA launched its new flagship high-speed train on April 25 -the Frecciarossa 1000. Also known as the Zefiro 300, this Bombardier built train has a design speed of 400kph;

Here’s the technical details of the train;
http://www.railway-technology.com/projects/frecciarossa-1000-very-high-speed-train/

Here’s an article on the launch of the Italian service;
http://www.railjournal.com/index.php/high-speed/trenitalia-launches-frecciarossa-1000.html?channel=

At the moment the Frecciarossa 1000 will be limited to speeds of 300kph. Sound familiar? Yes, it’s exactly what Hs2 have in mind. It’s worth remembering that Hs2 won’t be up & running until 2026 & who knows what speeds the next generation of high-speed trains will be capable of by then. So Hs2’s planned speed of 400kph is an eminently sensible choice that future-proofs the line – and Hs2aa are being dishonest with their claims (again).

3). ‘Adequate’ compensation. Ignoring the irony of Hs2aa (a group that’s lost dozens of court cases) talking about a lost court case, let’s remember one thing. That court case wasn’t about the amount of compensation, it was about the methodology of the compensation scheme. For some people, no level of compensation will ever be enough. In truth, the Hs2 compensation scheme is more generous than previous ones. No-one would want to see people compensated unfairly, but what all this is about is a cynical attempt to load more costs onto the Hs2 bill to make it seem unaffordable.

4). Cuts – yet another cynical ploy. We’re the 6th richest nation on the planet. The cost of Hs2 is spread over 18yrs at less than 0.17% of GDP (or around £2.5bn pa at the height of the projects spending). The idea that scrapping Hs2 will stop cuts elsewhere is nonsense. Where to cut is a political decision more than a financial one – and the different parties have different ideas on how & when to do it.

5). Hs2 ‘cuts £8.3bn of existing rail services’ This is Hs2aa’s biggest & boldest lie. I’m copying my original exposure of this to save you having to look for it.

“It is true that in the Economic Case analysis (table 9 on page 78) is a figure of £8.265 billion, labelled “classic line savings”. So what’s that all about? Well first, it refers to the full network in Phase 2, not Phase 1. Then, it’s a Present Value, that is, 60 year’s worth of annual sums all rolled into one. So the annual figure relevant to Phase 1 will be a lot – and I mean a lot – smaller.”

The cuts lie has also been nailed by the plans that have published to EXTEND rail services after Hs2 is built. As usual HS2aa ignore such inconvenient evidence as it shows them up for what they are, nothing but a deceitful bunch incapable of telling the truth.

So, next time somebody waves around Hs2aa’s ‘5 questions’ card, feel free to link to this.

The anti Hs2 campaign in the last week of the election.

02 Saturday May 2015

Posted by in General election, Hs2, Hs2aa, Politics, StopHs2

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As we’re in the final week of the election campaign I though I’d take a look at how the anti Hs2 campaign’s going. The answer is – very badly indeed.

Their laughable ‘no votes for you with Hs2’ campaign has got absolutely nowhere. It’s not even persuaded individual politicians to backtrack on their support for Hs2 never mind the actual parties. Instead, all the major players (including the SNP) have restated their support for the Hs2 project in no uncertain terms. Take this example from Labour’s Shadow Chancellor, Ed Balls, who gave an interview to the Liverpool Echo;

Ed Balls

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/general-election-2015-ed-balls-9148898

Or this, from Labour leader Ed Miliband, who was talking to the Yorkskire Evening Post:

Ed Milliband

http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/latest-news/top-stories/labour-will-back-hs2-miliband-1-7194044

All political parties know that (in reality) the anti Hs2 campaign is tiny. It has little real support & commands fewer votes. To illustrate this fact here’s the latest antis social media ‘scores on the doors’. These are a record of the leading anti Hs2 groups & leaders following on social media (Twitter & Facebook). Note the usual caveat. Not everyone following them opposes Hs2. Some followers are pro’s there just to keep an eye on them!

Scores

To say the results are pathetic is an understatement. They started off from a ridiculously low base and have hardly made any progress since February.There’s been no election effect at all. To put their campaign numbers in perspective, the total number of UK parliamentary electors in 2013 was 46,139,900. I’d work out what % of the electorate is actually following StopHs2 or Hs2aa but I don’t have a calculator that works to that many zero’s!

That’s not all. The main players (Stophs2 & Hs2aa) have been almost absent from the fray. Having run out of money & with a shrinking activist base they’ve relied on both UKIP & the Greens to make all the running. Their problem is – both parties are slipping in the polls.

What will be interesting to watch is what happens to their campaign after the results of the election come in and it becomes obvious they’re a disaster for them.

Watch this space…