Phil the Train has not always been in favour of HS

In a parliamentary question to Bob Ainsworth, the Under Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, in March 2001 Philip Hammond fiercely criticised:

1. the questionable validity of the business case
2. the use of a Hybrid Bill (“bypassing the proper processes of scrutiny that a Transport and Works Act application would have entailed”)
3. the 180 degree turn made by the opposition government, after it took office, to implement the scheme it had previously been criticising
4. the long-term property blight the project was causing along the route
5. the environmentally damaging effect of the scheme, including the fact that it would pass through areas of outstanding natural beauty
6. the enormous impact on “visual amenity” and the “generation of huge amounts of noise”
7. the fact that no environmental impact assessment had been made

So, Mr Hammond, what made you change your mind?

See more:

http://stophs2.org/news/2411-hammond%E2%80%99s-rail-reversal