Petition launched urging rethink over HS2
A petition has been launched urging ministers to hold a new vote over the controversial HS2 line.
Campaigners led by TV presenter Chris Packham want the budget-busting rail line scrapped, describing it as a waste of taxpayers' money - particularly during the Covid pandemic.
HS2 is being delivered in three phases, with the first section – which is set to carve through Staffordshire on its way from London to the West Midlands – signed off by MPs last year.
Now campaigners from a number of key anti-HS2 groups have called on ministers to "re-assess HS2 in the post-Covid economy and eventually face up to reality and cancel the entire project".
The petition says: "We ask Parliament to repeal the High Speed Rail Bills, 2016 and 2019, as MPs voted on misleading environmental, financial and timetable information provided by the Dept of Transport and HS2 Ltd.
"It fails to address the conditions of the Paris Accord and costs have risen from £56bn to over £100bn.
"Our environment and economy are in peril. HS2 is destroying nature and inflicting suffering on businesses and property owners.
"Government is investing in an inept and recklessly run project, offering poor value for money. HS2 will not reach Net Zero by 2050 nor help us level up the North.
"The pandemic has changed how we work forever and invalidated the business case. Given the climate emergencies we face, and now the economic and pandemic crises - Parliament must vote to repeal the legislation."
Other lead signatories on the petition include human rights barrister Michael Mansfield QC, Iceland Foods boss Richard Walker, who is an ambassador for the Wildlife Trusts; and former HS2 Ltd Land & Property Director Doug Thornton.
Crisis
Chris Packham said: "The world has changed dramatically since MPs voted on HS2 back in 2016.
"HS2 takes us further away from achieving Net Zero by 2050, it destroys a vast swathe of irreplaceable wildlife habitats and squanders a colossal amount of taxpayer's money on a business case that was bankrupt even before Covid, and that has now spiralled to double the cost MPs voted upon.
"Add to this our economic crisis, and we can see that MPs should be given the power to reconsider HS2 and vote again on whether this disaster project should continue, be rethought, or scrapped entirely."
Last year saw a series of protests up and down the country – including in Lichfield – as HS2 workers hacked down ancient woodland to make way for the line.
HS2 Ltd says the scheme is "the most important economic regeneration project in decades". It says HS2 will "better connect over 30m people" and "help level-up the country and create new jobs".
The project has been backed by business leaders in the West Midlands, as well as the region's Mayor Andy Street, who sees it as a vital part of the fightback against Covid.
The National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) has suggested ditching part of the proposed line from Birmingham to Leeds to prioritise regional services instead.
Visit petition.parliament.uk/petitions/563380 to see the petition.
