Government should not “get a slap on the back” for HS2, Corbyn says

Jeremy Corbyn has said that the government should not “get a slap on the back” for announcing today that the High Speed 2 rail project is going ahead.

Responding to a statement from the government in the House of Commons, the Labour leader declared that the “piecemeal announcements” did not amount to a “serious plan to rebalance the economy”.

He suggested that the Conservative government was taking on the language of the Labour Party, but “falling a very long way short on the substance”.

The outgoing Labour leader also reiterated his call for the railways to be brought into public ownership, saying that the case was “unanswerable” to improve the service and cut fares.

The government statement in the House of Commons confirmed that HS2 will go ahead, with the first phase between London and Birmingham and the second going to Manchester and Leeds.

Commenting on the announcement, Corbyn said: “The Prime Minister laments our inadequate infrastructure, yet it’s his party that has been starving the country of investment for the last ten years, resulting in the worst regional inequality in Europe.

“Yet today the Prime Minister is selling his announcements as a prize for parts of the Midlands and the North. I tell him: people in those regions, to whom he promised so much in the general election, are going to be sorely disappointed.”

He added: “We don’t see why the government should get a slap on the back for announcing it is going ahead.”

The cost set out in the 2015 budget for the project was set at just under £56bn, but the independent Oakervee review has said it could cost more than £100bn.

Commenting on the announcement, Boris Johnson said: “I cannot say that HS2 Ltd has distinguished itself in the handling of local communities. The cost forecasts have exploded, but poor management to date has not detracted from the fundamental value of the project.”

The Prime Minister added: “We will, in line with the review, investigate the current costs to identify where savings can be made in phase one without a total redesign.”

The Labour-affiliated union ASLEF has welcomed the statement about HS2, though general secretary Mick Whelan hailed it as “long overdue”.

Whelan said: “This is good news – albeit long overdue, because dithering and uncertainty helps no one – because Britain needs not just a new high speed rail line but a new high speed rail network.

“We have always argued that HS2 should run the length of the UK, being built from Scotland, and the south of England, at the same time, meeting in the middle, linking HS1, and going via Heathrow.

“Shaving a few minutes off the journey time from London to Birmingham – which is what its critics like to claim – was never what this project was all about.

“It was, and is, a plan to build a better railway for Britain in the 21st century, to free up pathways for passengers and freight, and to bring prosperity to every corner of our country.

“The project has been criticised by environment campaigners but HS2 is part of the solution to climate change – because rail is part of the green agenda – and will mean fewer cars, fewer lorries, and fewer carbon emissions.

“If we are serious about climate change – and want a true, integrated transport network – then HS2 has to be delivered.”

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps told parliament last year that the first trains may not run on the line until some time between 2028 and 2031.

The second phase of the railway infrastructure project was supposed to open in 2032-33 – however this has now been postponed until 2035-40.