15-September-2013

Stop HS2 Newsletter

 

Dear Stop HS2 Supporter,

This has been a good summer for opponents of HS2 - but now supporters of HS2 are fighting back.

Since Patrick McLoughlin, Transport Secretary, upped the budget for HS2 to £42 billion (with another £7.5bn for the trains) lots of people are having a second look at the project - and concluding that HS2 should be stopped.

So the summer saw a wide range of politicians and organisations speaking out against HS2, ranging from Peter Mandelson and Alistair Darling to the Institute of Economic Affairs, the Campaign for the Protection of Rural England and the Institute of Directors.  Political parties already opposed include Plaid Cymru, the Green Party and UKIP.

Just recently the Public Accounts Committee have produced a scathing report (which said HS2 is based on “fragile numbers, out-of-date data and assumptions which do not reflect real life”) and the latest Sunday Times poll shows that 55% of the public think HS2 should be scrapped.

But until it is actually cancelled, we can't just assume HS2 will be stopped.

The government have started a fightback, beginning with a speech by Patrick McLoughlin last week and publication of a new report by KPMG, which says that HS2 will have £15 billion benefits for the economy.  However within a day, two former advisors to HS2 Ltd both said that the KPMG report was wrong: one said the numbers were "fanciful", the other that the report was "garbage in" and "possibly out by orders of magnitude".
We must maintain the pressure on the Government and HS2 Ltd.

Party Conferences

Stop HS2 are having a presence at several party conferences, including a stand at the Labour Party Conference. 

We'd really appreciate any donations you are able to give us for the party conference stand: it costs several thousand pounds, but gives us the chance to talk directly to senior politicians and Labour Party Members.  There is some movement in the Labour Party with shadow ministers referring to a 'North-South line' so we need to explain why High Speed 2 is wrong for the country as a whole.

Campaigning

Thank you to everyone who contacted your MP about the Gagging Bill.   This is of serious concern to anyone involved in any type of campaigning, and we will continue to monitor the situation.  Today's Telegraph article ("Anti-HS2 party may field candidates in 2015 polls") shows some of the unintended consequences of the Gagging Bill - as well as continuing the pressure on MPs to encourage their party leadership to drop support for HS2.
Please remember, you can buy t-shirts etc at the Stop HS2 shop - http://www.stophs2-officialmerchandise.co.uk/

Consultations

The Government has just announced the start of new consultation on Phase 1 compensation, after the last one was described in the Judicial Review as ‘so unfair as to be unlawful’  Although this one only applies to Phase 1, we would recommend that everyone affected by HS2 responds to it: the consultation finishes on 4th December.

There is also the ongoing Phase 2 route consultation, which closes on January 31st 2014.  Again we would urge everyone to take part: please include in your answer to question i and iv that you are opposed to the railway eg by saying "I disagree with the route because I think HS2 should be stopped".

We will be issuing advice on answering the consultations after the party conferences.

Please help Stop HS2!

Running a campaign like Stop HS2 takes funding. We really appreciate any donation you can give us to enable us to continue the pressure on the Government at this crucial stage.  Payments can be made directly into our bank account Lloyds-TSB, Sort Code 30-94-93, Account no, 34934760. 

However, regular donations help us to plan ahead, so please consider setting up a standing order: forms can be downloaded from http://stophs2.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/STOP-HS2-standing-order-form.doc and sent to Stop HS2, c/o Roger Waller, Treasurer, The Outlook, Dunsmore, Wendover, Bucks. HP22 6QJ.  You can also send cheques made payable to Stop HS2 to this address. 

More options are on http://stophs2.org/donate

If you aren't already doing so, please follow us on twitter @stophs2, like our face book page facebook.com/stop.hs2 and check the website http://stophs2.org.

From Penny, Joe and the Stop HS2 team