HS2 Doesn't Add Up.

Crewe has a fine and proud history as a centre of the Rail Industry. It is with this in mind that I expect a less than favourable response to my letter, in criticism of the HS2 project announced with some fanfare last week. However, our country is in a terrible economic position where we must make rational but unpopular decisions now, for a more prosperous and secure future.

Whilst I applaud the government’s decision to finally start injecting money into the real economy, instead of just into the bond market via quantitative easing, there are much better ways to spend £34bn to stimulate economic growth. To label the project as an ‘investment in Britain’ is also misleading – this isn’t money coming into the country or created here through productive enterprise, it’s money we’ve yet to borrow, on top of our national debt of £1.11Tn, increasing to £1.4Tn by the end of the year. You and I will have to pay for this through our taxes.

As a Chartered Engineer, I’m all in favour of progress, modernisation and big infrastructure projects, but as a politician, I’m all for Sound Economics. Unfortunately, for HS2 the sums just don’t add up.

The government claim that HS2 will spread wealth from London to The North. Can you really see HSBC relocating their International Headquarters to Rotherham? Goldman-Sachs in Grimsby? Citibank in Stockport? No, for exactly the same reason that you won’t see Car Factory in Canary Wharf. In putting forward this argument the politicians merely demonstrate their lack of understanding of business and industry. Companies locate in given areas because of an abundance of necessary skills, raw materials, competitive corporate taxation and low operating costs, not because you can get there 30 minutes faster from London.

Throughout the discussions over HS2, I’ve yet to hear one business leader say “Yes, we’ll build a new factory in the north because of this new train line”. All this project will achieve is an expansion of the London commuter belt, sucking yet more industry from the regions.

If the government really wants to generate economic growth in The North by spending on rail, they could develop our derelict Rail Yards into freight hubs, giving manufacturers fast, cheap access to ports and stimulating employment. They’d investing in additional rolling stock and capacity on important, local commuter lines, where the real problems lie. They’d encourage the manufacture of trains in our country, instead of consigning factories like Bombardier in Derby to the scrap-bin. They’d introduce proper competition on our railways instead of the flawed and botched franchise system, to create competition, improve services and lower costs.

Instead of 300 jobs maintaining HS2 trains, I'd like to see 3,000 jobs designing and building trains here in Crewe and would invest, and adopt policies to make this more likely.

The misguided and wasteful HS2 project merely goes to illustrate three things about the politicians from the old, failed parties. They’re out of touch with industry, their understanding of economics is flawed, and they’re still happy to waste billions of pounds of your money to buy a few positive headlines. This, we have come to expect from Labour, however, the failure of Conservative Politicians goes some way to demonstrate why many of their traditional supporters have deserted them.

Finally, anyone under this misapprehension that this was a policy dreamt up in London should consult European Council Directive 96/48/EC, emanating from that fount of all policies inappropriate, unnecessary and unaffordable - Brussels.

Cllr. Stuart Hutton, (UKIP).