They Blog For You

Douglas Hurd once said to me when he was Foreign Secretary that one of the  strongest reasons to support the British system of having one MP for each constituency (a lot of democracies use proportional systems with multi-member constituencies) is that it kept your feet on the ground. For him, [...]

The Chiltern Countryside Group has published its guidelines on responding to the public consultation on HS2, which can be viewed below.  This document is a useful resource for those writing a response to the consultation, although as the document states, it is important to remember that the most effective responses will [...]

I recently wrote to Danny Alexander MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, regarding HS2, and have now received a response.  A copy of this can be seen below. [...]

Stoke Mandeville parish council has pointed out to me that maps 9 and 10 published by HS2 Ltd show different versions of the impact of HS2 on the village. I’ve written to Philip Hammond to ask which of these maps is the accurate one. I hope that he will give [...]

An email arrived from some constituents today drawing my attention to a website from a pro-HS2 organisation called Yes to HS2 or Campaign for High Speed Rail. It’s a free country so the supporters of HS2 are as entitled as its opponents to ount a campaign. But I was a bit [...]

Greengauge 21 is a company that has long supported High Speed Rail, and has weighed in behind the HS2 proposal. They’ve recently published a report in which they argue that it would be possible for the government to link HS2 to improvements to local rail services that would give people [...]

Apart from my regular constituency surgery to deal with problems brought to me by individual constituents, I had two important meetings this Friday. One was a further meeting with representatives from the local campaign groups and local authorities about HS2. You might recall that I convened a similar meeting earlier this [...]

Those of you who are already members of BBOWT (the Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust) will already know of their concern about the impact of the HS2 plan on the natural environment. They’ve spelled out their concerns in detail on their web site which you can link to here. [...]

I’ve finally had a reply from the Ombudsman to the letter that I sent her back in January asking if she would in principle be able to investigate claims of maladministration by the panel making decisions about the Exceptional Hardship Scheme. She has said that she does have that power, [...]

As you can see, I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond MP, to take up a number of points regarding HS2. The points that I have raised include whether the DfT plans to publish the Arup high-speed rail route, how the DfT plans to conduct [...]

Please find below the replies that I have received from the Campaign to Protect Rural England, The National Trust and Natural England to the letters that I sent as part of HS2 Update 6 (see post dated 10-02-11). As you can see, all three organisations are concerned about the environmental [...]

I shall be studying carefully the documents that have been published today regarding the HS2 public consultation.  I intend to send in a response myself to the consultation, drawing on the arguments and evidence presented to me by my constituents.  During the next few weeks and months I shall be [...]

Today the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond MP, launched the public consultation on HS2.  I have included below some important pieces of information which will help you to respond to it. The consultation documents can be found on the dedicated HS2 consultation web-site here. On the consultation web-site there is [...]

I still haven’t been told when the public consultation will start but rumours abound that it will be on the very last day of February.  I’ve been involved in a whole series of preparatory meetings: with representatives of local campaigns and amenity groups; with the District and County Councils, and [...]

Please find below the letter that I received from Transport Scotland in response to my letter dated 7th December 2010, which I have included for your information. In addition, I have also received a response from the Secretary of State to my letter about concerns that the reasons for building [...]

Here are the follow-up letters talked about in my most recent HS2 update (please see below). As you can see, I have written to The National Trust, the Campaign to Protect Rural England and Natural England to investigate what action they have taken in response to HS2. In addition, I [...]

Please find below the recent letters that I have written to the Secretary of State for Transport, Mr Hammond MP, and Ms Louise Ellman MP, Chair of the Transport Select Committee (TSC), regarding HS2. The letters cover HS2’s revised benefit cost ratio, a request for an inquiry into HS2 by [...]

On 20 December the Secretary of State for Transport, Philip Hammond MP, announced that the Coalition Government has chosen route three as its preferred option on which to hold a public consultation regarding HS2. This news will have come as a heavy blow to many residents. At the time of [...]

Please find below the replies that I have received from the Transport Minister, HS2 Ltd and Virgin Trains, to my letters regarding HS2 (see high-speed rail posts dated 07-12-10 and 15-12-10). The letters talk about the construction of HS2, public rights of way and the issue of capacity on the [...]

Below is a link to the transcript of oral evidence that was given to the Transport Select Committee on 30 November as part of their ongoing study on transport and the economy. At the meeting evidence was taken from Alison Munro, Chief Executive, HS2 Ltd and Joe Rukin, Convenor, Stop [...]