Let’s stop the political bickering and get this project on the rails

Steven_Barker

Our rail transport network is creaking, out of date and fast reaching capacity, so let’s stop this party politics row and start it up. Why is Labour now against something that came from their own party while in power? Everyone accepts there is a growing North/South divide that must be reversed and HS2 is one of the answers to solve this problem long term.

This country also needs to embrace a legacy project like this for the prosperity of future generations and for once we have a government brave enough to be thinking long term instead of the usual short term policies designed to return individual politicians to parliament with little thought for the wider good.

Those people who say we should spend the money upgrading the existing system are frankly deluded

Why are we even listening to these dissenters and giving them air time – because it would not happen in Japan; they have a good idea, put up a good business case, and then get on with it whereas we have lots of good ideas that then get lost in bureaucracy and minor action groups. So it’s little wonder we are slipping behind other leading economies of the world.

Those people who say we should spend the money upgrading the existing system are frankly deluded because it will just lead to over a decade of misery and potential gridlock of the system, so don’t listen to them, Mr Cameron, hold your nerve for future generations.

Yes of course there will be winners and losers with something like this, but in my opinion the country wins far more than it loses and we must get on with it now!”

Steven Barker is chairman of Robinson Low Francis