Keltruck’s founder & chairman, Chris Kelly, has written for The Birmingham Post.
The debate is hotting up on both sides of the high speed rail argument. Why the big fuss opposing HS2, especially from people like me, whose homes will not in any way be affected?
Well my own stand is simple. We really are in the economic mess that the Government says we are – and who can dispute that the last government borrowed hundreds of billions on top of taxation receipts to fund their spending? As a consequence of this, we are paying £100 million of interest each day on the national debt.
How on earth, then, can we now be talking about borrowing another £32 thousand million, a thousand pounds for every family in Britain, to build a new alternative rail line?
After all, HS2 will only transport a very tiny fraction of one per cent of people travelling around each day and will only get them from London to Birmingham around 20 minutes or so faster than at present.
The train, though, will stop in Curzon Street in Birmingham, some 10 to 15 minutes walk away from the main city centre station, New Street, for connecting to other trains. That is for those who can walk that far. Other towns and cities in the Midlands will get a worse service. Coventry and Stoke-on-Trent for example.
So the return on the huge amounts of money that the Government plans on investing is, overall, pretty lacklustre.
Claims are made about the economic benefits it will produce, but those claims are based on dodgy assumptions about the amount that demand will grow, and the use people make of their time on the train – but they ignore other, more affordable options.
If you’re more realistic and analyse all of these assumptions, the benefits of HS2 just melt away.
If, however, you think that at least it is money being focused in Birmingham and that it is good for the city even if the overall case is a bit suspect, then I’ve got news for you. Even based on the Government’s figures, the vast majority of the jobs created by the route will be in London.
Who here really wants to give first priority to spending hard-earned taxpayers’ money in this way?
Many times it is written that they are “business leaders”. The Birmingham Chamber is one of the organisations that has come out wholeheartedly in support of HS2. I question, though, if it has really asked its membership and given them both sides of the argument before giving the project its full endorsement.
One has to question whether there are not other projects the Chamber and its members would rather spend so much on – assuming we had the money in the first place?
Others on the pro side include our council leaders. Again, have they asked the public the same question, and given them an honest account of both sides of the debate? The answer is, of course, no, and they are spending taxpayers’ money supporting other infrastructure aspects of this project. How are they to pay for that? From reduced spending, or increasing the rates?
If and when HS2 is built, how many of the taxpayers forced to stump up to pay for the new line will be able to afford to travel on it?
Of course no one knows the answer to that, but I think it a reasonable guess that they will be city professionals, who travel between London and Birmingham regularly anyway.
I strongly believe that we are suffering excessive taxation right now, brought about by reckless politicians, constantly increasing spending on more and more wasteful projects.
Taxation today is stifling millions of hard working Great British folk, especially those who actually make things.
They are stifled by having large proportions of what they have worked hard for taken off them in tax.
Then the final body blow for the entrepreneur is ridiculous, and constant bureaucratic red tape, which knocks the stuffing out of most of them eventually.
HS2 will make that worse. It will mean another £1,000 that we all need to pay one way or another in taxes, and much less of the relative pittance that is available to spend on our road infrastructure today, that the country desperately needs.
I can’t tell you why a Government, short of money, is so intent on building this white elephant, but I can spot a bad investment. I can see this is one – and one that needs to be cancelled.
Chris Kelly founded West Bromwich truck dealership Keltruck
business-live.co.uk/economic-development/chris-kelly-hs2-white-elephant-3922993
