Green light for HS2 despite MP backlash

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has given the go-ahead for the £100bn rail project, High Speed 2, despite Conservative MPs in the home counties being sullenly opposed to the project.

With the first phase of the route travelling between London and Birmingham and phase two going to Manchester and Leeds, the development is designed to reduce journey times between London and Birmingham from 80 to 45 minutes and between London and Manchester from 128 to 68 minutes. Supporters of the project have said that it will improve transport times and increase capacity as well as creating jobs and rebalancing the UK’s economy following a hit at the latter part of 2019.

However, not everyone is on board and the Prime Minister faces backlash from up to 60 Tory MPs, including that of Andrew Bridgen who claimed the HS2 project is “unloved, unwanted and grossly mismanaged.”

Green Party MP, Caroline Lucas added that the development would “destroy or damage hundreds of important wildlife sites, areas of ancient woodland and local nature reserves.”

As the project progresses, it’s clear that removing the taint will traipse and it will be decades before the full value and cost of HS2 will see decades before it is clear – only time will tell.