Philip Hammond is using every weapon at his disposal to get people to support HS2 in the consultation process.
With just one week left of the HS2 consultation, Philip Hammond issued a message of strong support for HS2 on at least one train company employee intranet, urging rail employees “who have a very significant stake in seeing HS2 come to fruition” to respond to the consultation.
The Campaign for HSR have been given information about what the responses to the HS2 consultation say before the consultation finishes, and are using it to encourage their supporters to respond.
A tweet from Rail magazine reads “RAIL subscribers…..if you support HS2, please return the HS2 consultation card inserted in the new issue you should have had this morning.”
Some of Philip Hammond’s efforts might just work.
So it is vital that every single person opposed to HS2 responds to the consultation. It can be as simple as writing “no” for answers 1-5 on a postcard and sending it to freepost RSLX-UCGZ-UKSS, High Speed Rail Consultation, PO BOX 59528, London, SE1 9AX or email highspeedrail@dft.gsi.gov.uk.
Hammond is now telling the press that seats on trains “will have to be rationed”. If that isn’t deliberate misinformation I don’t know what is!
Doesnt it strike you as strange that Hammond is having to beg folk in the rail industry to back him?Surely if it is so good they would have done so already.They have more common sense.
A lady on the petition says she used the one in France allshe could see was a blurr and suffered an ear ache for 2 days after.Big insentive to encourage visitors to use high speed trains i dont think.
China is slowing many of theirs down due to cost of running and safety.
The tone of the StopHS2 campaign can sometimes seem strident but then the future of an area of outstanding natural beauty is at stake.
For a measured debunking of the government’s case take a look at the submission of Raifuture, a group of railway enthusiasts who are in favour of high speed rail but not the proposal the government has put forward. A summary of their response can be found here: http://www.railfuture.org.uk/tiki-download_file.php?fileId=287
so it is okay for certain unelected interest groups to tell everyone not to vote for hs2 based on guesswork and unproven so-called facts but not okay for the elected prime minister and government to push for something he and many other mps believe is important ! and it is obviously okay in your eyes for someone to write a critical report of hs2 sometime after they have become involved in the anti hs2 campaign because they live near the proposed route !
in a democracy all are entitled to their opinion even if you dont agree with it. the unelected critics such as iea, rac foundation, tax alliance and lord wolfson all want more roads built and privatised and all passengers and freight carried by road. they would get rid of all subsidies which would decimate public transport and impose massive cuts across the public sector.
other groups such as councils are against hs2 because it doesnt bring enough benefits to their areas which is fair enough. it is a case of whats in it for them and their residents one presumes hence your link to “bucks must get some benefits from hs2”.
The article says “The Campaign for HSR have been given information about what the responses to the HS2 consultation say before the consultation finishes”.
The internet is awash with action groups “advice” on how to respond and “model answers” – one site even appears to fill the form in for you! The consultation responses are out there and very easy to find, so why hint at some sort of underhand conspiracy?
Quoting from a newsletter issued by the Campaign for HSR, asking people to respond: “At the moment, the number of negative responses is far greater than the number of positive responses. This has to change or else we risk losing the high-speed rail project altogether.”
Either the Campaign for HSR has been given information about the consultation responses during the consultation, or they are making up information. Neither option shows them in a good light.
So setting up a phone line is not the same then
Well perish the thought that anyone with first hand knowledge and experience of operating within the rail industry should be called on to express an opinion of support!
If Lord Wolfe, a “super shopkeeper” is invited to offer his thoughts to a Parliamentary Committee, despite his business having no relevance to the project, and unsure why he was even invited, is it to be wondered at that Mr. Hammond might seek to enlist those who actually know something of the industry?
Of course Philip Hammond is not “neutral”. He has taken up the project and seeks to develop it as the first stage of a series of “bypass” railways to relieve pressure and connect with the existing network.
Likewise, HS2 Ltd. have done and continue to do the job they have been asked to do. They are not the “bad guys” as they seem to portrayed.
In the face of all the barrage of exaggeration, innuendo andd in some cases, downright untruths put out by various groups within the”Stop” movement, the simplistic requests to write in with unqualified “NO! NO! NO!” to everything, it is a bit rich to cry “Foul” when the Minister attempts to redress the balance.