Protesters unite in new push to derail HS2

ANTI-HS2 campaigners have united around a new push to see the controversial project scrapped amid falling demand during the pandemic.

Richard Walker, the chief executive of Iceland, and Michael Mansfield QC, the human rights lawyer, are among signatories of a new petition calling for the Government to hold a new vote over the project.

“The £100 billion-plus HS2 vanity project did not show a return for the taxpayer even before Covid-19 blew all assumptions about the UK’s future travel needs out of the water,” Mr Walker said. “Its cost to nature and the environment is completely unacceptable, and its supposed regional economic benefits illusory: it would simply suck more jobs and prosperity out of the North.

“We should ditch this white elephant now and invest in better cross-country rail links and high-speed broadband instead.”

Organisers believe the petition will reveal growing opposition against the rail project from across the country and say it has brought together different groups of anti-HS2 campaigners for the first time. Rail demand has dipped during the pandemic as people work from home and avoid public transport.

A report from the National Infrastructure Commission last month said that the eastern section of the highspeed network should be deferred and regional transport links developed instead.

Meanwhile, environmentalists have raised alarm at the destruction of ancient woodland along the route, which is not expected to be complete until 2029.

Mr Mansfield said: “HS2 has become a vanity project for politicians bereft of policy. You would have thought that, if nothing else, the message of the pandemic would have made it abundantly clear that this project is unwanted and frankly irrelevant.

“Yet, the Government continue to insist on protecting it. Stop the endless exploitation of scarce environmental, economic and human resources.”

Esther McVey MP tweeted on Monday: “As train passenger numbers have slumped, 1 in 5 rail services could be axed next year ‘to prevent the taxpayers’ bill spiralling out of control’ saving taxpayers £7bn. In light of the above, can someone tell me why we’re not cancelling HS2 which would save taxpayers over £100bn?” Among the petition’s backers are Chris Packham, the naturalist and TV presenter, and Doug Thornton, the former head of property at HS2, who became a whistleblower after warning about the rising costs in 2015.

Mr Packham said: “In the face of our climate, environment and pandemic emergencies, our government and judiciary are failing us. Projects like HS2, Heathrow Airport’s expansion and a vast new road building programme take us further away from where we need to be, and time is rapidly running out. The world has changed dramatically since MPs voted on HS2 back in 2016.”

HS2 says that the high-speed line will have an overall positive impact on the environment by cutting the number of cars on the roads and domestic flights.