I know I have been wittering on about HS2 rather a lot but it is the gift that keeps on giving.
It was obvious that the Tories were going to use the cancellation of HS2 as a stick to beat Labour with.
First daring them to recommit to an expensive infrastructure project and second naming a new road, rail or tram project in as many marginal constituencies as possible and then claiming Labour would abandon them.
This first trick is fairly obvious as the government is setting out to make any decision to reinstate the Birmingham to Manchester route impossibly expensive and divisive by selling off the land immediately.
The second cynical ploy did not last a week because of the complete incompetence of Rishi Sunak.
First they turned out to be projects that wouldn’t even start until 2029, then the money was not available for them (fairly obvious as no one would sit on billions for 6 years) and then it became obvious many had already happened, or were immediately dropped. Then the government had to admit that they were just “examples” or perhaps “suggestions”.
And so the fraud was exposed, the PM stood up in Manchester and promised dozens of new infrastructure projects across the nation. Only to have to admit they are years away from starting, there is no money, they hadn’t bother to check which ones had already happened and anyway his promise was worthless as these were just “examples”.
The PM sent his delegates home happy that they had an election message that would put Labour on the back foot, only to find they are the ones with nothing to offer but “examples”.
And then Rishi had himself photographed on his private jet flying home from Manchester.
Message received and understood.
Economics, trade and Brexit, not necessarily in that order but the dog always comes first.
By Jonty Bloom Media
Why has it never been explained properly to the public that much of the funding for HS2 came from the EU? Did Prime Minister Sunak say anything about that at the Tory Party conference?
Why is the cancellation of HS2 not being claimed as a Brexit benefit?