Category Archives: Hs2

The theatre of the Absurd: the Green party and the Amersham by-election…

02 Wednesday Jun 2021

Posted by in 'Green' madness, Carolyne Culver, Hs2, Politics, Railways, The Green Party

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Over the past few years I’ve become increasingly cynical about the ‘green’ credentials of the Green Party of England and Wales (please note, the Scottish Green party is a seperate entity and a very different kettle of fish, they’re actually sensible!) mainly because I had to study their policies on transport, rail privatisation and High-Speed 2 way back in 2015. Everything I’ve experienced since has made me even more cynical. Frankly, as a ‘green’ party, they’re not fit for purpose. They’re little more than a posturing protest group where dogmatism is allowed to override science and facts.

The latest example of this is the antics of their candidate for the Chesham and Amersham by-election on June 17th. The local ‘green’ party chose one Carolyne Culver who is currently the leader of the ‘Green’ group on West Berkshire council.

The by-election was called following the death of the sitting Conservative MP, Dame Cheryl Gillan, who passed away on the 4th April 2021. Gillan was a Brexit supporter and opposer of the High Speed 2 railway which passes through the constituency.

The ‘Greens’ have decided that the ‘cunning plan’ of their campaign in Amersham and Chesham will be to base it around a single issue (opposition to HS2) in the hope of attracting the ‘Nimby’ vote. To that end Culver is running one of the most cynical and opportunistic campaigns I’ve ever seen from the GPEW. Imagine, a party that’s supposedly concerned about ‘green’ issues and global climate change pandering to parochialism, nimbyism and self interest – and the truth (and science) be damned!

Here’s an example. This is Culver’s statement on the local Green party website.

Carolyne says,

“The people of Chesham and Amersham have been taken for granted for too long. The government should scrap HS2 and invest in local services and infrastructure instead. The destruction of the environment, homes and businesses must stop. HS2 tunnel boring has started, threatening the chalk aquifer and water supply. The residents of this constituency are bearing the brunt of this project but will gain nothing from it. At the same time, they have to put up with poor quality, unsafe roads and inadequate bus services.

“Spending more than £100bn on HS2 is frankly obscene. The Covid-19 pandemic has taught us that we need to spend more on the NHS and adult social care, school students who have missed out on education, and helping people back into work and to reskill.

“I have campaigned alongside local residents and other Green Party members to protect Jones Hill Wood and the
Leather Lane oaks. I have witnessed the anger, despair and disbelief of residents affected by HS2. If elected to
parliament I would be a fearless advocate for local people and opponent of HS2.”

So, no mention of anything to do with anything outside of local issues and forget GLOBAL Climate Change! It’s a manifesto for Nimbys, nothing more. It’s also pure posturing. HS2’s being built, now. Even if by a miracle Culver was elected (she won’t be) it’s a dead issue as far as Parliament is concerned. She can no more stop it than fly in the air.

There’s more…

This is the “vote Culver” website which contains the following gems.

“Carolyne is the only candidate endorsed by the Stop HS2 campaign”. Well, ignoring for a moment that campaign is as dead as a Dodo now that Joe Rukin hung up his inflateable white elephant for the final time earlier this year, it’s also bizarre thing to boast about because this conflicts with the Green Party policy TR244, which says “The Green Party supports the principle of a new north-south high speed line which would reduce the number of short-haul flights within the UK.” Except when it actually comes to putting your money where your mouth is and building one, obviously! Hypocritical, much? Confused, much?

It gets worse. Culver is shown on her website holding this banner.

That’s 6 claims – and not a single one is true! Let’s go through them.

  1. ‘Biggest deforestation’? I nailed that lie here. It’s not even close…
  2. 108 Woodlands ‘destroyed’ Another lie nailed. In fact, not a single ancient woodland is destroyed (but a minority do suffer some loss of area).
  3. ‘Experts say’? No, experts (plural) don’t say. In fact, only one man has claimed this, Lord Berkeley’s sidekick Micheal Byng. It’s a figure no-one else recognises. Oh, and as for the HS2 only ‘saves’ 15 minutes, that’s complete cobblers too, as the official journey times show. Culver seems unaware (or just doesn’t care) that HS2 isn’t just a Euston to Birmingham service only running between the two stations so there are multiple journey time savings. This claim was always idiotic, it’s even more idiotic now that HS2’s being built from Birmingham to Crewe, but does Culver care? Obviously not.
  4. No ‘local’ benefits? HS2 frees up capacity on lines running through the constituency, it also helps take lorries off the roads (cutting local pollution), can reduce domestic aviation and contribute to UK GDP (which benefits everyone) – and cut transport Co2 emissions which benefits the whole planet, not just a few local Nimbys.
  5. The old Working From Home (WFH) and videoconferencing claim isn’t borne out by any real statistics either, least of all by the fact road traffic’s almost back to pre-Covid levels and rail traffic continues to recover. It’s middle-class wishful thinking, nothing more. The reality is the majority of people can’t work from home.
  6. Err, no taxes are paying for HS2, like most big-ticket infrastucture projects and Government spending, the money’s borrowed on the Gilts markets where the costs of borrowing have reached historic lows.

Oh, and as for that ‘NHS not HS2’ economic illiteracy – I dealt with that here.

Still, facts eh? Carolyne clearly wouldn’t know one if it bit her.

There’s (yet) more. Here’s an interview Culver gave to the Bucks Free Press which is a rehash of all the daft claims off her website plus extra scaremongering about local water supplies.

What’s facinating and depressing about all of Culvers electioneering is the way she’s running a rabidly parochial campaign all about local issues like potholes and with an obsessive focus on HS2. You’d be forgiven for thinking she’s running for the position of Councillor, not Member of Parliament. None of the great issues of the day – like Brexit, the economy, or most bizarrely – Climate Change – even get a mention!

So, what’s her background? Could that help explain this? Her bio says;

“Ms Culver, a Green Party county councillor in West Berkshire, has spent much of her career working in communications in the charity and university sectors, including the Berks, Bucks and Oxon Wildlife Trust and the University of Oxford. She has also been a teacher, lecturer and journalist.”

Hang on, how can someone who’s educated and worked most of her life in PR and Comms be so tone deaf and inept? Her campaign’s a PR car-crash – literally! Here’s a classic example from this week, when another ‘Green’ party car crash (Natalie Bennet of ‘brain fade’ fame) popped in. What did the two of them do? Toured HS2 worksites – in a 2014 built petrol-driven car! Here’s a Green party candidate who opposes building a green electric railway that we need to get modal shift from road/air to rail to tackle global climate change and she’s touring around the sites in a petrol driven car!

Needless to say, this Tweet soon attracted attention – and it wasn’t kind…

Sadly, like most ‘green’ candidates or members of the heirachy, Culver doesn’t like being questioned or challenged. Raise any of these issues with her or ask how someone from a party whose priority is supposedly global climate change can run such a parochial, fact-free campaign and this happens…

See what I mean about that tone-deafness?

The really dumb thing about this apparently experienced communications and PR ‘wizard’ running an anti HS2 based campaign is that Culver hasn’t bothered learning about Cheshaam and Amersham’s political history in relation to HS2, because Culver’s not the first one to optimistically think opposing HS2 will win her a safe-Tory seat. UKIP tried that one too!

Let’s delve into a bit of history…

The Chesham and Amersham seat was formed in 1974. Only two MPs have held it in all that time – both Tory. Dame Cheryl Gillan first won it in 1992 and held it until her death this year. Although she was a Brexiter, the area returned the biggest Remain vote on the UK mainland at 55%, it was second only to Gibralter. But, like many Tory MPs what mattered to Gillan wasn’t the views of her constituents, it was her local Tory party association who are the real power behind MPs and their views. Nonetheless, on the back of HS2 passing through the area and the vocal cries of a Nimby minority, UKIP were persuaded that if they stood on an anti HS2 platform they just might take the seat. Hence bombastic nonsense like this.

UKIP were to be disappointed as the local HS2 nimbys had been writing cheques they couldn’t cash by boasting of support thay didn’t have as the General election results in 2010, 2015 and 2017 demonstrate. Oh, they also show the problem Culver and the ‘Greens’ have. How on earth does she think she’s going to persuade dyed-in-the-wool Tory voters to vote ‘Green’ when they couldn’t even bring themselves to vote for a party that was so close to many Tory hearts (UKIP)?

UKIP never got close to unseating Gillan, despite HS2 and the ‘Green’ vote has been up and down like a bride’s nightie! In 2019 it was 3042, or 5.5%, only mariginally better than it was in 2015!

So, Culver doesn’t stand a hope in hell of winning. Her only achievement by running such a fact-free and parochial campaign will be to tarnish the national party’s image even further. I mean seriously, a ‘green’ candidate who campaigns on potholes and better roads, but doesn’t even mention Climate Change? It’s time the GPEW grasped the nettle that’s their mad policy on HS2 before it does them any more damage. Sadly, with the dogmatic leadership they’ have in place, I can’t see that happening, which takes us back to the theatre of the absurd. By pushing ahead with HS2, Boris Johnson and his Government have proved (with their rail policy anyway) they’re actually greener that the ‘green’ party! How absurd is that!

UPDATE: 6th June 2021.

Things haven’t got any better with the ‘green’ party. Exactly the opposite in fact. Seemingly stung by the criticisms of their campaign, the Chiltern ‘green’ party has resorted to blocking anyone on Twitter who has the temerity to question the wisdom of their campaign – including other Green party members and voters!

It’s a classic example of ‘groupthink’ and why the party is so out of touch with ordinary voters. Mind you, as this policy come right from the top and is practised by the majority of ‘green’ leaders it’s hardly any wonder it’s taken up by the grassroots. The ‘greens’ block list is beginning to resemble an old London telephone directory in size!

It’s incredibly unhealthy for a supposed democratic party but then I’ve always maintained that the ‘greens’ are no such thing, as they’re proving by their actions. This is a protest group that brooks no dissent from the party orthodoxy.

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More weapons-grade cognitive dissonance from HS2 antis…

30 Sunday May 2021

Posted by in 'Green' madness, Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Hypocrisy

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The ‘environmentalists’ of Hs2Rebellion never cease to amaze me by their levels of cognitive dissonance, and this one is an absolute doozy! Take a look at this latest attempt to seperate fools from their money by getting them to donate via a crowdfunder.

More detail is given on the Crowdfunder page.
To paraphrase “please donate money so that I can buy another old car to drive down to Cornwall from the South-East to protest about climate change”

Are you having a laugh? Drive an old banger all the way to Cornwall? Have these ‘environmentalists’ never heard of public transport? You know, like trains, the very thing they’re protesting about and trying to stop? The irony that these ‘environmentalists’ are driving between protest camps in a fleet of old gas-guzzling, carbon-spewing jalopies is completely lost on them. I wonder how many of them are diesels too? Here’s another example. I wonder what the emmissions and MPG are for this old Range Rover which is another of the clapped-out vehicles they use (they were crowdunding the repair bill for it the other week). Now, what do you reckon the carbon footprint is of a round trip of circa 300 miles to pick up an old caravan is? Plus, after achieving nothing outside the G7 meeting in Cornwall, these ‘environmentalists’ are proposing to drive all the way to Glasgow to repeat their failure outside the COP26 conference. How many miles is London – Cornwall – Glasgow – London in a gas guzzler I wonder?

Whatever these people are – ‘environmentalists’ they ain’t. They leave a trail of destruction and pollution wherever they go, be it destroying the ecology of pristine chalk streams, sullying woodlands with sewage and other detritus or driving hundreds of miles in old cars – or pulling stunts like this by burning rather than recycling timber from a camp they were being evicted from. Even one of their followers lost it with them over this!

Hopefully, now that their campaign has collapsed, the crowdfunding tap will be turned off. If those mugs who’re donating *really* want to save the environment, give the money to some charities who’re genuinely helping restore and preserve nature!

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More cognitive dissonance from ‘Conservationists’…

07 Friday May 2021

Posted by in 'Green' madness, Hs2

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Regular readers will know I’ve become increasingly cynical about the UK ‘green’ movement. Mainly due to my support for building the High Speed 2 railway. This has brought me into contact with various charities, pressure groups and ‘celebrities’ in a way I’d never had before. Like many people, I simply assumed they were on the right side of things, knew what they were talking about and actually cared about Climate Change. Several years down the (metaphorical) line and my rose tinted glasses are well and truly consigned to the dustbin.

Over the years I’ve blogged about the fact free nonsense, scaremongering, hypocrisy (and downright lies) pushed by many conservation groups. Like the Woodland Trust (who’re still at it) or people like Chris Packham who really is beyond the pale (remember his ‘largest deforestation since WW1‘ claptrap?). Today I’ve found another in the Packham mould who I’d never heard of before. One Iolo Williams.

It seems Williams is another TV celebrity Conservationist. Well, in Wales at least – although he also works for the BBC and has appeared on ‘Springwatch’, so presumably knows Packham. What drew my attention was this fact-free load of nonsense on Twitter.

Ignoring the usual lazy canards about HS2 being a ‘Vanity project’ and only saving 20 mins we have a new one. According to Williams HS2 “destroys thousands of acres of prime wildlife habitat”. Really? Where? As usual, the truth is completely different. HS2 affects a tiny amount of ancient woodland (less than 1 ha on Phase 1) a large chunk of the line is in tunnels and the land it does traverse is mostly monocultural farmland – which is hardly renowned as “prime wildlife habitat” (as many environmentalists are at pains to point out)! In fact, some of the farmland that HS2 crosses and that’s being used in the construction phase will be repurposed afterwards and turned into genuine “prime wildlife habitat” like this example (link).

Here’s an image of what to expect once the line is built. Not exactly the barren wildlife wasteland people like Williams pretend, is it? Not only that, but HS2 is committed to ensuring there’s no net loss of biodiversity, something Williams ignores completely.

Let’s have a look at Williams other claims too shall we? Let’s start with the tired and trite canard about HS2 only ‘saving’ 20 mins. Apart from the blindingly obvious fact HS2 isn’t just an end to end railway with just two stations (but a network serving 31) so can’t just be a single time saving, let’s look at the real figures. Note: 20mins isn’t true on any of them…

Right, that’s that canard exposed. Now let’s move on to one of my favourites, that HS2 is a ‘vanity project’! Here’s my standard response to anyone who’s lazy enough to trot that one out;

Since HS2 was first mooted in 2009 we’ve had a Labour government, a Coalition government and now a Tory Majority government. We’ve had four Prime Ministers: Brown, Cameron, May and Johnson. We’ve had five Transport Ministers: Adonis, Greening, McLoughlin, Grayling and Shapps.

The HS2 phase 1 bill passed with the biggest majority of any Coalition legislation, both in the Commons and the Lords. It continues to enjoy massive cross-party support from all the major political parties. Hs2 is also supported by the elected regional mayors (both Labour and Tory), The Core Cities Group, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPS) transport bodies, business groups and individual companies. The list is huge.

So, exactly whose ‘Vanity project’ is HS2 meant to be?

Oh, there’s another thing. As I’d never heard of Williams I did a bit of research and found this on his website. Just like Packham, Williams advertises expensive trips to exotic locations where you can enjoy the pleasure of his company. For a price, of course. Williams is currently advertising 6 such trips in 2021-22. Destinations are Brazil, Costa Rica, Sri Lanka, the Antarctic, Cantabria and East Africa. These trip don’t come cheap either. Here’s an example.

Five grand each for a party of 10. Nice work if you can get it. But how far is it from London to Costa Rica by air? Here’s your answer…

Yes folks, that’s a round trip of almost 11,000 miles (not including any internal trips within Costa Rica itself). As old Cilla Black used to say – that’s a lorra, lorra Carbon Emissions – and that’s just one trip…

So, (just like his mate Packham) Williams is happy to see groups of wealthy people fly around the world as a business opportunity, but opposes building green land transport in the UK for everyone (rich or poor). Because without HS2 we simply won’t have the rail capacity for the future to get people & freight off roads and cut transport CO2 emissions to tackle GLOBAL ClimateChange. Stopping HS2 isn’t ‘green’, it’s exactly the opposite.

Hypocritical, much?

There seems to be a recurring pattern here. With these people it’s very much a case of ‘do as I say, not as I do’ plus a completely cavalier approach to facts and fact-finding. Scaremongering and exaggeration’s the order of the day and they seem to feel no obligation to report responsibly which is sad as we desperately need a Green movement that is worth its name. Sadly, these people aren’t it.

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Stupidity, thy name is HS2Rebellion!

06 Thursday May 2021

Posted by in Extinction Rebellion, Hs2, Local elections, London, Politics

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With the anti HS2 campaign continuing to fall apart as more and more activists become ‘slacktivists’ or disappear completely now it’s obvious the game’s up. There’s been little to comment on recently because it’s really all over bar the posturing. Until today, when in one glorious cock-up HS2Rebellion and others who’re linked to the rather ridiculous (but also faintly sinister and rather fascistic) Extinction Rebellion spin-off political party ‘burning pink’ have excelled themselves in utter stupidity and tinfoil-hattery on the day London’s voters go to the polls!

Why? Well, Burning Pink have put up a candidate for London Mayor, one Valerie Brown (who? Ed). You may well ask, as no-one’s ever heard of her before now. Apparently, she’s the co-founder of ‘burning pink’ along with the odious Roger Hallam, who was previously one of the founders of Extinction Rebellion. Frankly, there’s less chance of her winning as there is of finding Lord Lucan.

SkyBet are offering odds of 750-1 on her. To put that into perspective, Count Binface is way ahead of her with odds of 500-1! For someone standing on a supposed environmental ticket her campaign’s been a joke. Money’s been found from somewhere for a campaign ‘battlebus’ which turns out to be a pollution disaster as it’s 17 years old and wouldn’t be allowed on the streets of London any other way.

With her campaign going nowhere Hs2rebellion/Extinction Rebellion activists came up with an idea to attract publicity and make some impossible demands at the same time. Two (one of whom is serial failure Larch Maxey) clambered on to the roof of 1 Eversholt St at Euston and sprayed the building with pink paint, then said they’d only come down if their ridiculous demands were met. They and their hangers-on like ‘Boots on the ground’ (see previous blog) claimed they were spraying the HQ of HS2.

To say these people aren’t playing with a full deck is beautifully illustrated by another of ‘Boots’ tweets from yesterday.

This is tinfoil-hattery of the highest order. Why the Chinese would want inland naval bases miles from the sea would seem to be a logical question, but obviously not if you’ve been sucked into the ‘shocking pink’ orbit where it seems the first thing you’re asked to do is leave your brain at the door.

Now, as Larch Maxey had previously spent 3 weeks holed up in the pointless tunnel under Euston Gardens early in the year, you just might have thought he’d have an idea of who had offices at Euston and where. But no! Needless to say, this stunt backfired in spectacular fashion as people pointed out what should have been blindingly obvious. HS2’s HQ is in Birmingham. Yes, the do have offices at Euston – at the Podium. The offices Maxey and his mate painted are the offices of err…Network Rail, the company that runs the publicly owned rail network, you know – public transport – the sort of thing Greens are meant to like…

Here was the reaction of one person on Twitter who pointed out the obvious.

Of course, the mistake is even harder to make now as buildings 1 and 2 have been demolished so Maxey had a 50-50 chance of getting the correct building – and still failed to get the right one!

Meanwhile, others started doing some digging about that ‘battlebus’…

I sometimes wonder if Extinction Rebellion and ‘Burning Pink’ aren’t actually working for the oil and road lobby as the only thing they’re good for is bringing the UKs green movement into utter disrepute. Whatever these idiots thought they were achieving that would help their cause is a mystery. The reaction on Twitter has been overwhelmingly negative, if anything it’s exposed just how ridiculous, arrogant and unpleasant ‘Shocking pink’ are – with Extinction Rebellion not far behind. Remember, ‘shocking pink’ under their other name ‘beyond politics’ attacked the offices of several political parties (including the Green Party) because they claimed they weren’t ‘radical’ enough.

Still, tomorrow we’ll be able to see the election results. One thing I can confidently predict and that’s the fact Valerie Brown will not be Mayor of London! I’ll update this blog with the results. Anyone care to bet she has less votes than Count Binface?

Of course, this futile act of stupidity does beg one question. Whilst these two and their rag-bag of supporters are poncing around outside Network Rail’s offices, who’s meant to be on the frontline trying to ‘save’ trees and stop HS2?

UPDATE: 9th May.

As promised here’s an update on Brown’s performance in the Mayoral election. She came last! She managed a measly 5305 votes and was trounced by Count Binface who garnered 24775 votes! Worse was to came. ‘Burning Pink’ have reported Brown was arrested at home by the Metropolitan police on Saturday morning for conspiracy to cause criminal damage (of for ‘caring’ as Burning Pink’ claim). She’ll be in good company as Larch Maxey and his co-vandal Xavier Gonzalez Trimmer were also arrested after their stupid stunt.

Meanwhile, in the real world. HS2 construction continues uninterrupted…

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Yet another anti HS2 legal fiasco…

27 Tuesday Apr 2021

Posted by in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Politics, Protest, Railways

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Just as you know that night follows day you know that when those who oppose HS2 resort to the courts, it’s only going to end one way – and so it was again yesterday.

Firstly, a bit of background. The group of protesters who’ve remained camped in part of Jones’ Hill woods after being evicted from the part of the woods required to build HS2 managed to raise crowdfunded money to challenge Natural England bat licenses which were granted on March 31st, allowing HS2 contractors to fell trees and clear vegetation under certain conditions (see Natural England’s blog here). Led by serial failure and former Green Party candidate Mark Kier (blogs passim) they applied for a High Court injunction on April 16th. Mrs Justice Lang DBE granted an injunction on only one of the several licenses issued by NE, those defined in License WML-OR58. The rest were allowed to stand.

The injunction said that:

“The application for permission is adjourned to be listed in court as a “rolled up
hearing”, on notice to the Defendant and Interested Parties, on a date in the week
commencing 24 May 2021 or as soon as possible from 8 June 2021 onwards,
having regard to the availability of counsel already instructed at the date of this
order. If permission to apply for judicial review is granted at that hearing, the
Court will proceed immediately to determine the substantive claim.”

Mrs Justice Lang’s judgement went on to describe her reasoning, which I won’t include here for the sake of brevity (and the fact her judgement was overturned).

Natural England appealed (note, not Hs2 Ltd or the Government as it was NE who granted the licenses and were named as the defendants, HS2 was merely listed as an ‘Interested Party’). The appeal was heard by Mr Justice Holgate on Monday 28th. Holgate discharged the injunction, saying that none of the grounds Mr Keir’s experts and lawyers had put forward against the felling were “arguable”. He reserved his judgement which will be published at a later date. When it is I’ll add it to this blog (it has been, see the end of the blog!).

This leaves the protesters up a proverbial creek without a proverbial paddle. Of course, Keir immediately told the press and his supporters that he would appeal but there’s only one problem – he needs grounds to do so – and from what Mr Justice Holgate has said – he ain’t got any! Besides, by the time he might file his appeal, the remaining work at Jones’ Hill woods could well be completed. HS2 contractors (who’re still working on the site) have four days left on the license (that’s if it’s not extended because of the delays caused by legal shenanigans).

Yet again the protesters have wasted people’s time and money (both theirs and the taxpayers, who’ll pick up the tab one way of the other). It’s noteworthy that these cases are brought under the Aarhus convention, which means the
Claimant’s liability for the costs incurred by the Defendant and Interested Parties is limited to £5,000, and the Defendant’s liability for the costs incurred by the Claimant is limited to £35,000. Whilst this convention allows access to the law for people who would otherwise find costs exorbitant I do wonder if their shouldn’t be a threshold of competency and realistic chance of success to prevent hopeless cases and ‘vexatious litigants’ from gumming up the courts, government and any defendants purely as a delaying tactic – especially when Crowdfunding is involved. Mind you, on top of the court fees there’s also the costs of Lawyers, the people who must be rubbing their hands in glee every time they see the words ‘stophs2’ and ‘crowdfunder’…

Of course, this wasn’t the only recent legal ‘success’ for HS2 antis that soon turned to ashes.

Another protester (Sarah Green) has had a long obsession with potential water pollution in the Colne Valley and had launched (yet another crowdfunded) legal appeal against a decision of the Information Commissioner to side with HS2 LTd that certain documents relating to piling work in the Colne Valley should be released.

I won’t bore you with the details. It’s a long, arcane argument and a decision that you can read here if you ever find yourself suffering from insomnia!

The Tribunal agreed with Green that certain papers should be released unredacted.

As usual, there was only one problem. Green had so convinced herself that these would prove that HS2 was hiding something all perspective was lost. The papers didn’t even relate to the substantive matter in hand – test piling for HS2’s Colne Valley viaduct. Green started her case in 2019. By the time the appeal was heard the world had well and truly moved on. Not only were the papers not the ‘smoking gun’ Green had imagined but the test piling had been completed. There was worse to come. Not only had the test piling not caused any of the pollution Green has been frightening people with – it also proved that the actual piles for the Colne Valley viaduct didn’t need to be driven as deeply as originally planned – thus saving considerable time, expense and carbon emissions!

The icing on the cake? Hs2 started the actual piling work for the pier foundations of Colne Valley viaduct back in March and has received full planning consent for the structure from Hillingdon Borough Council. Oh Dear!

Having failed in the courts as usual there’s little chance of HS2 being stopped on the ground either. The protest campaign has fallen into complete disarray in the past few weeks. Even HS2Rebellion have had to publish an embarrassing update to their protest camp list!

The reality is even worse than they admit. New Poors Piece at Steeple Claydon is also redundant as is Denham Ford. Neither stopped a thing and are largely abandoned following the pattern established by the Crackley camp. In fact, so many of the last remaining protesters are restricted by bail conditions that they’re left pulling stunts like trying to interfere with people who have a connection (however tenuous) with HS2, which is why a handful of them tried to disrupt a prison construction site in Wellingborough! Many others have drifted off to other Extinction Rebellion stunts like smashing HSBC bank windows at Canary Wharf or suchlike. Once the oxymoronic Wendover ‘Active Resistance’ Camp is evicted their campaign is literally all over bar the shouting (or tweeting)….

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If you enjoy reading this blog, please click on an advert or two. You don’t have to buy anything you don’t want to of course (although if you did find something that tickled your fancy that would be fab!), but the revenue from them helps to cover some of the cost of maintaining this site – and right now (because of Covid), us freelances need all the help that we can get. Remember, 99% of the pictures used in my blogs can be purchased as prints from my other website –  https://paulbigland.zenfolio.com/

Thank you!

UPDATE.

Since publishing this blog I’ve been sent a link to Mr Justice Holgate’s reasons for his decision, which can be found here. They make interesting reading as they highlight a number of things. Firsly, why Lang made her earlier decision and why Holgate overruled it and also an insight into the tactics of the protesters legal team – and something we’ve seen before. Namely, just bombard the Courts with paperwork and hope (in the words of the old saying) if you can’t blind them with science, baffle them with bullshit! Read this comment.

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“The help I received contrasts with what was put before Lang J. The claimant’s main bundle contained 472 pages and a supplementary bundle contained a further 514 pages. Much of the documentation was of a highly technical nature and in sequence which was difficult to follow. A good deal of time and assistance was needed to navigate this material during the hearing. I had the benefit of very focused and carefully cross-referenced skeletons. The same cannot be said of the Statement of Facts and Grounds put before Lang J, which did not identify the key passages in the application and decision-making documents upon which the legal submissions depended. For example, the list of essential reading referred to 120 pages of such material en bloc, without identifying any specific passages and so was of no assistance. This was a serious problem in the present case. A key document for the submissions of all parties at the hearing, the “Method Statement Assessment: Additional Notes”, which contained a good deal of the explanation for NE’s final decision, and is over 40 pages long, was not mentioned at all in either the Statement of Facts and Grounds or the list of essential reading. It was simply buried within the Supplementary Bundle. NE and IP2 have expressed their concern that these factors might have affected Lang J’s consideration of the applications before her.“

IP2 is Interested Party 2 (HS2Ltd). NE is of course Natural England.

Point 78 in the judgement contains this zinger “When this issue is considered properly and in context, the claimant’s criticism, once again, has a complete air of unreality about it” Ouch!

Point 91: “I have already rejected several of these criticisms. In my judgment, it is fanciful to suggest that adequate information was not given about the importance of the site for barbastelle“.

Point 114: “I accept the evidence in Mr. Dineen’s witness statement as to the impact which delay in felling the trees would have on this part of the HS2 project. If the felling could not take place until October 2021, earthworks could not begin until March or April 2022. Currently those works are scheduled to begin in June 2021. In paragraph 5 of IP2’s submission to the court dated 14 April 2021, a conservative estimate of the costs of the delay was given in the broad order of £25 to £50m. Mr. Dineen now says that those figures have been re-assessed as being in the range of £60.7-£88.8m. His statement dated 19 April 2021 was accompanied by a schedule. Plainly there has not been time for the claimant to consider this in any detail or to raise any questions. The claimant simply says that these costs will not be incurred because the claim could be dealt with at a super-expedited hearing, a point which I have already rejected. I proceed on the basis that the continuation of the injunction would cause additional costs in the region of at least £25m to £50m, and probably substantially more. I attach very considerable weight to this factor”.

Point 115: “I also attach considerable weight to the public interest in the continuation of work on the HS2 project without substantial interruption. Parliament has decided that it is in the public interest for the project to be undertaken and the Government has subsequently confirmed that it continues to agree with that decision (see e.g. Packham). There is no challenge to NE’s decision in this case applying regulation 55(2)(e) to the works which are the subject of this dispute.” Packham again!

Yet again this is a humiliation for the protesters legal representations and arguments “air of unreality”…”fanciful”? Oh dear. Plus, dumping paperwork on a judge in the hope something might stick.

The truth about Jones’ Hill woods and Roald Dahl that you won’t hear from anti HS2 protesters…

09 Friday Apr 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Lazy journalism, Protest

≈ 10 Comments

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Mind you, you won’t hear the truth from much of the UK media either! Sadly, many journalists lazily recycle whatever the protesters tell them without once bothering to fact-check any of it – which is why this fairy story about a supposed connection between Dahl and Jones’ hill woods has managed to spread.

Who to trust? Was Jones’ Hill woods really the inspiration for Roald Dahl to write ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’?

Well, how about the Roald Dahl museum? If anyone should know about this they should, surely? This is what they say about the inspiration for Dahl’s story on their website.

“Roald Dahl lived with his family in Great Missenden, a village in Buckinghamshire, UK. Their house was surrounded by fields and woods. As a passionate lover of the countryside, there was one particular tree – known locally as “the witches tree” – that sat on the lane near the Dahl home and came to inspire one of Roald’s own favourite stories: Fantastic Mr Fox.

The “witches tree” was a large, 150-year-old beech. Sadly the tree is no longer standing but when his children were growing up Roald always used to tell them that it was where Mr Fox and his family lived, in a hole beneath the trunk, just as the Fox family do in the story.”

So, not only was it NOT Jones’ hill woods – it wasn’t even a woods but a single tree that no longer exists and hasn’t for donkey’s years (hardly surprising as Beech trees have a typical lifespan of 150–200 years). Yet again we find those opposed to HS2 just making stuff up for their own ends (just like the ‘children’s memorial’ and dozens of other ridiculous claims).

The story gets detailed even more in this report called “Finding Fantastic Mr Fox” by the BBC’s ‘Countryfile’ which claims that:

“Beloved children’s author Roald Dahl once lived and worked in rambling Gipsy House, on the edge of the sleepy Chilterns village of Great Missenden, and when stumped for inspiration he would walk in nearby Angling Spring and Hobshill woods. It was among these ancient beeches and carpets of bluebells that Dahl set some of his best-loved stories, including my favourite, the tale of Fantastic Mr Fox. Dahl had a favourite tree, an enormous gnarled specimen in the heart of the wood, which he called The Witches’ Tree“.

Note no mention of Jones’ Hill woods, even if this report slightly contradicts the Roald Dahl museum.

And there’s more! In 2016 the Independent newspaper carried a story called ‘on the trail of Roald Dahl in Great Missenden‘. In this piece it claims that;

“Angling Spring wood was the inspiration behind one of the writer’s most charismatic characters, Fantastic Mr Fox. The gnarled Witches Tree is said to be where the four-legged family lived.”

Yet again, no mention of Jones’ Hill woods. But there’s more..

The Bucks geology website has an illustrated guide to walks around Great Missenden published by the Chiltern’s Conservation Board (who also might be expected to know the truth) which contains this informative piece.

So that’s another vote for Angling Spring wood – but no mention of Jones’ Hill! Here’s some more perspective courtesy of the Ordnance Survey. I’ve marked the position of Jones’ Hill and Angling Spring woods in relation to Whitefield Lane in Great Missenden, where Dahl lived. As you can see from the map, it backs onto Angling Spring wood.
Distance wise, Jones’ Hill is over 3 miles walk from Great Missenden High St. In contrast, Angling Spring woods are right next to Dahl’s home! Now, if you’re going walking with young children, which woods would you chose to take them to – a local one near home or one that’s more than a six mile round trek where you have to walk past loads of other woodland just to get to it?

If I can fact-check this claim by spending just a few minutes on Google, why can’t the BBC or any other journo’s do the same? Because it’s just too easy to swallow whatever the protesters tell them as it makes a nice tear-jerking story and to hell with whatever the truth is! As the old adage goes, never let the facts get in the way of a good story…

Not letting the truth get in the way is exactly what HS2Rebellion and the protesters have done. Yesterday HS2rebellion reposted serially failed Green Party candidate Mark Keir claiming to be pointing out the actual ‘Mr Fox’ tree being felled in Jones’ Hill wood on their laughably entitled and thoroughly dishonest “Save Roald Dahl wood” Facebook page!

How you chop down a tree that fell down in a completely different wood in 2003 is a mystery known only the anti HS2 protesters.

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HS2 protesters go ‘beyond the fringe’…

07 Wednesday Apr 2021

Posted by in Hs2, HS2Rebellion, Protest

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Those of you of sufficiently advanced years or whom have a penchant for classic comedy may know of the 1960s satirical series ‘Beyond the fringe’ that starred Peter Cook, Jonathon Miller Alan Bennet and Dudley Moore. In one memorable sketch Peter Cook and Johnathon Miller spoofed the British in World War Two. The skit contained these (now famous) lines:

Peter Cook: “I want you to lay down your life, Perkins. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war. Get up in a crate, Perkins, pop over to Bremen, take a shufti, don’t come back. Goodbye, Perkins. God, I wish I was going too.”

Parodies beget parodies – albeit sometimes unintentionally, and today – with their ‘war’ going so badly the anti HS2 protesters at Jones’ Hill wood provided their very own ‘futile gesture’!

This morning a handful of them attempted to block a road by the tried, tested (and serially failed) method of a ‘lock-on’. In this case an old oil drum containing concrete that a couple of protesters fastened their arms into. Some even boasted about the barrel used as it had been recovered from a previous camp and nicknamed ‘big boy’. The ‘cunning plan’ being this device would supposedly take ages to break into so they’d cause maximum disruption by preventing HS2 workers getting to work. Only a futile gesture it was…

The protesters and their ‘lock-on’ were in place before contractors arrived for work but they didn’t stop anyone getting there, they merely caused a traffic jam as vehicles were left nearby. The police soon arrived en-masse and shortly after midday the ‘lock-on’ had been cut up and rendered unusable and the pair of protesters taken away, presumably to be charged under S241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 for trying to prevent people going about their lawful employment. So, that’ll be two more of the tiny number of protesters left having their wings clipped by bail conditions then! It’s a kamikaze tactic that doesn’t stop a thing, but it gives the protesters something to stick on social media where they’ll get lots of ‘thoughts and prayers’ from useless keyboard warriors – as if that will stop HS2!

Here’s the Facebook post from serially failed Green Party candidate Mark Keir who’s one of the tiny number of regular protesters at Jones’ Hill wood.

The numbers for likes, shares and comments aren’t exactly what you’d call setting the world alight…

At this stage I don’t know if other arrests were made, but the fact there’s only a handful of protesters taking part tells you all you need to know. Meanwhile, what was happening inside Jones’ Hill wood? It was business as usual for HS2 ecologists, contractors and security staff – as this screen-shot of another of Keir’s video posts demonstrates!

So much for stopping people getting to work! In the video Keir hurls insults and expletives at the HS2 workers and security people as they go about their work unhindered.

It was also business as usual at all the other 300+ worksites on the HS2 route too as this was the only protest. Elsewhere there were a few people grumbling as they filmed work going on, but that’s hardly stopping HS2, is it?

I wonder how many more of these futile gestures the protesters can afford to mount before they run out of volunteers? The more the merrier in some ways as it has the effect of stripping the camps and making them easier to evict when the time comes – which will be soon for the remaining few camps. It’s soo tempting to resort to another WW2 parody about ‘for you, the war is over’ – but I’ll resist the temptation – honest!

Of course, the protesters like to claim that they have almost universal local support for their stupid stunts. The reality is rather different. Some residents don’t take very kindly to having these waste of time protests blocking roads – as this illustrates…

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It’s the end of the line for ‘StopHS2’

04 Sunday Apr 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Joe Rukin, Politics, Protest, StopHs2

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Funny how you never hear real news on the StopHs2 website – especially when it relates to yet another of their failures! Just as there was total radio silence about ‘Campaign Manager’ Joe Rukin’s embarrassing (and expensive) legal fiasco last October, there’s been no public announcement that the man’s finally admitted what the rest of us have known for years – he’s been wasting his time!

This fact has finally dawned on Rukin, who sent an email around to the groups supporters at the end of March – after yet another legal failure when his latest application for a Judicial Review was dismissed. Here’s part of what Rukin has said.

True to the end, Rukin’s not been honest with people. The truth is that he’s been looking for a proper job for several years now and the real reason he’s stayed is because he didn’t get one. Rukin’s retirement means that the only person left is Bournemouth based Penny Gaines, so effectively, it’s game over. I mean, seriously – ‘StopHs2’? based in Bournemouth? As a campaign group StopHS2 have been irrelevant for several years as they never managed to secure what they needed to stop HS2 – political support. The writing’s been on the wall since 2014 when the Phase 1 Hybrid Bill passed with such whopping majorities (both in the Commons and Lords). Cross-party support for HS2’s never wavered (despite some of the nonsense claimed by people like Rukin) and without the political numbers adding up in their favour – they were toast. The demise of StopHs2 puts the final nail in the coffin that already contains the remains of ‘AGAHST’ (Action Groups Against HS2), the High Speed 2 Action Alliance’ (HS2aa) and dozens of local ‘action’ groups up and down the HS2 routes.

Now, the only thing left is the dwindling number of protesters allied to Extinction Rebellion, Hs2Rebellion and the local Nimbys who support them. It’s only a matter of time before the bell tolls for them too. Despite their bombast and bluster they’ve not stopped a thing. Now they’re reduced to boasting of ‘delaying’ pockets of work on HS2 (conveniently ignoring the fact what’s caused the most delays to the project has been the Government shilly-shallying with reviews). The protesters ‘protection camp’ network has been shrinking ever since last summer, with many camps now being redundant as there’s nothing left to ‘protect’! Meanwhile, site clearances and construction on Phase 1 have ramped up massively, completely overwhelming the puddle of protesters. Now, Phase 2 has been given the go-ahead and a contract to create new woods and wetlands as part of early environmental works on the route between the West Midlands and Crewe was signed on April 1st.

The days of the final ‘protection camps’ that have any relevance to the route are numbered and we can expect to see their demise happen soon. No doubt there will still be isolated protests here and there and some people will be left in pointless camps on private land, out of harm’s way, but they’ll be posturing, nothing more.

The campaign to stop Hs2 never stood a chance. Now it’s spluttering to an ignominious end…

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Some (real) HS2 environmental news…

01 Thursday Apr 2021

Posted by in 'Green' madness, Hs2, Politics

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It’s often difficult to cut through the nonsense and hysteria about the environment spread by the anti HS2 protesters as the media rarely do it and too many organisations tend to keep their heads down, so it’s great to see Natural England sticking their heads above the parapet and explaining what’s going on regarding bat licences at Jones’ Hill wood, one of the few woodlands that’s genuinely affected by HS2. Jones’ Hill will lose 0.7ha out of 1.8ha. On March 30th Natural England granted licences for work at Jones’ Hill woods and published details in a blog on their website, which you can find here. It makes interesting reading.

There’s also some important detail about what NE can and cannot do that the froth from the protesters (who always accuse NE of ‘betraying’ the environment) normally hides.

“Natural England’s role in licensing development is to ensure that activities affecting protected species are carried out without damaging those populations. We don’t have powers to stop projects that have been approved, or to delay them unnecessarily, nor do we have powers to prevent the felling of ancient woodland if it has been approved by the planning system.“

In this case, the ‘planning system’ is the Act of Parliament that decreed that Phase 1 of HS2 shall be built – and you really can’t get any higher up the planning, democratic and legal food-chain than an Act of Parliament! Oh, it’s also worth mentioning that the HS2 Phase 1 Hybrid Bill didn’t scrape through, it flew through both houses of Parliament with a whopping majority in each house.

By becoming law, the HS2 Phase 1 Hybrid Bill granted planning permission for HS2 and Natural England (even if it wanted to) cannot overturn or ignore an Act of Parliament!

NE go on to explain that:

“When a developer applies for a licence to undertake works that will impact on protected species, Natural England assesses whether the works can be carried out in a way that maintains the conservation of the species in that area. We take our regulatory role very seriously; all licences that are issued include conditions that the licensee must apply with. We monitor compliance with licence conditions and will take enforcement action if they are broken.“

This is exactly what NE has done at Jones’ Hill wood. They go on to say that:

“At Jones Hill Wood, we have undertaken a careful assessment of the impacts in this area and requested further hibernation surveys.  Our assessment has concluded that the felling of 0.7 hectares of woodland at Jones Hill Wood will not be detrimental to the favourable conservation of the overall bat populations in this area.

Our decision takes into account a number of elements including the areas over which bats forage and the wider available foraging resource, the proposed methodology for minimising harm to roosting bats, and the compensation measures that must be put in place, which include creating new roosting features, bat boxes and the planting of 3.2 hectares of woodland habitat and fruit trees on an adjacent site. The effect of these compensatory measures will be monitored over a period of many years. The licence also sets out measures that must be undertaken to ensure no bats are harmed during tree and vegetation clearance at the location. Some further details on impacts and compensation measures are included below.

We’ll continue to work both with HS2 and other concerned stakeholders during the works, and our staff will undertake a site visit during felling to ensure that licence conditions are being met.”

So, 0.7ha of woodland is lost but 3.2ha of woodland habitat is created – a net gain of 2.5ha. Funny how the protesters neglect to mention this, isn’t it?

Meanwhile, what impact could the work have on the bat population? NE have this to say:

“Impacts and compensation at Jones Hill Wood

The works at Jones Hill Wood have the potential to affect the following species through the loss of breeding sites and resting places: damage or destruction of up to 4 common pipistrelle resting places and 1 breeding site, 1 soprano pipistrelle resting place, 1 barbastelle resting place and 1 breeding site, 1 noctule resting place, 2 brown long-eared bat resting places and 1 breeding site, and 1 Natterer’s bat resting place. Works could also result in indirect disturbance of bats (if present) and the transport / possession / control / capture of bats.

Note the caveats (in italics) – ” could also result in indirect disturbance of bats (if present )”

Funny how the protesters only talk in absolute terms, isn’t it? Of course, the real world is far more complex. What NE make clear is that every effort will be made to protect wildlife like bats and that – at the end of the day, there’ll be far more habitat for them then before. But again, this doesn’t fit the protesters narrative so it’s ignored.

Instead, the protesters are trying to create a ho-ha on social media and in the press and are encouraging their supporters to bombard NE on Twitter, via mail and Facebook etc. In order to achieve what exactly? Natural England are not above the law, nor can they ignore it to act ultra vires although that’s exactly what the protesters are telling them to do! But then the protesters and people like HS2Rebellion think acting legally is something that doesn’t apply to them. Obeying the law’s for other people, which is why they flagrantly ignore it whilst claiming anything and everything HS2 do is ‘illegal’. It’s weapons-grade hypocrisy, but very much par for the course.

What happens next?

Nothing. The licences have been issued and Hs2s contractors can crack on with the work, despite what the protesters claim. Oh, their may be a bit of too-ing and fro-ing on the ground as the protesters try and make a last stand, but it’s General Custer territory, they neither have the numbers or the legal backing to stop HS2.

Of course (as is often the case) there’s an irony to this. The protesters will claim they’ve delayed the work so ‘saved’ 0.7ha of woodland, when the truth is what they’ve really done is delay the planting of an extra 2.5ha of habitat! Still, when did facts and HS2rebellion ever co-exist?

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Hs2rebellion’s ‘alternative laws’…

31 Wednesday Mar 2021

Posted by in Hs2, Politics, Protest, Railways

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Sadly, we all live in a world where it seems that nowadays facts are what you make up. Nowhere summed this situation up more perfectly than America during the administration of the orange fool otherwise known as Donald Trump. Memorably, one of his spokespeople (U.S. Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway) once talked of being in possession of ‘alternative facts’ or – what’s known to the rest of us as – lies…

It seems HS2rebellion have been supping from the same teat, only this time we not only have alternative facts, we also have alternative laws!

Colluding in this parallel universe is someone I’ve introduced you to before as a ‘crazy anti HS2 campaigner of the week’. Caroline Thompson Smith – take another bow! After her last arboreal atrocity hairdresser Caroline has put on her legal wig to attempt to expound on the finer points of English law only to fail miserably as she just made stuff up. Ms Smith filmed a load of nonsense outside High Wycombe court earlier today when two anti HS2 protesters were found guilty of breaking Section 241 of the Trade Union and Labour Relations (Consolidation) Act 1992 by trying (and failing) to blockade an HS2 worksite.

Caroline tries to claim the Judge totally ignored a defense that they weren’t trespassing (so weren’t breaking the law) despite the fact no such defense exists as S241 doesn’t even mention trespass – as is made clear, here…

Still unsure? OK. Contrast the legal ‘wisdom’ and assertions of a hairdresser with this from an independent (but left leaning) legal group. They say;

Yep, you guessed it – no mention of trespass (or tools) but exactly the description of what the anti HS2 protesters were doing! Think about who and why this law was brought about in the first place. The intention was to ban secondary picketing. Remember the ‘flying pickets’? No, not the band, the real ones feared and famed from the days of the 1984-85 miners strikes! Also known as ‘secondary picketing’, this is what the legislation was intended to curb, but it also applies to protesters who’re trying to prevent people from getting to work.

So, yet again the anti Hs2 demonstrators have been led down the garden path by Thompson-Smith and HS2 ‘rebellion’ have slavishly copied her nonsense – as they always do.

Thompson-Smith talking complete spheroids, as usual…

I (almost) feel sorry for the fools who’re falling for this. The one’s who’re not bothering fact checking but who’ll probably throw away their money on yet another online fundraiser to pay for a pointless appeal which has no chance of success. I’ve said for years that the only people who’re benefitting from the anti HS2 ‘campaign’ are the legal profession. This looks like it could be another classic example.

How will any of this stop HS2? It won’t of course. What it has shown is that more of the dwindling number of protesters are having their wings clipped by the courts.

So, how are the few remaining HS2 ‘rebellion’ protection camps getting on? Badly – as this little snippet reveals. Remember this time last year when Crackley was the biggest of the ‘protection’ camps and the occupants used to boast about how they were going to stop HS2? How things change in a year! Most of those people from the camp who were so active on social media have vanished. Only a few have reappeared at other camps. So who’se left at Crackley? Here’s the answer…

Because just two people are going to stop HS2…

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