No ‘blank cheque’ for HS2 – Shadow Chancellor

THE Labour Party looks to be on a collision course with business for its confused messages surrounding the future of the £50bn HS2 high speed rail line.

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls told his party’s conference that any future Labour government would not issue the project with a blank cheque.

He said the party still questioned whether the £50bn investment was the most effective way to tackle chronic under-capacity on the national rail network.

The comments are a repeat of those he made during a visit to Birmingham earlier this month.

The party had previously supported the project but has latterly attracted criticism from former Ministers Alistair Darling and Lord Mandelson.

The high speed line will link Birmingham with London and cut journey times between the first and second cities to 47 minutes. A Y-shaped spur north of Birmingham will send separate lines to Manchester and Leeds and similarly reduce the journey times between the major cities.

The economic impact of the project indicates why business support is so strong.

A new report by KPMG has suggested the line will benefit regional economies more than London, adding up to £1bn in West Yorkshire and £900m in South Yorkshire by 2037.

Speaking in response to the Shadow Chancellor’s comments, Katja Hall, CBI chief policy director, said: “We’ve always said that the government must redouble its efforts to sell the benefits of HS2 while keeping a tight lid on costs. But let’s not forget why this project matters. HS2 will connect eight of our 10 biggest cities, boost regeneration projects across the country for years to come, and will avert a looming capacity crunch on the West Coast mainline.”