HS2 plans could be derailed if Jeremy Corbyn wins Labour leadership
Hard-Left front-runner in leadership contest criticises High Speed Two in sign that Labour's support for project could be reversed if he wins
By Ben Riley-Smith, Political Correspondent6:44PM BST 04 Aug 2015
David Cameron’s plans for High Speed Two (HS2) could be thrown into jeopardy if Jeremy Corbyn becomes Labour leader after the hard-Left candidate heavily criticised the project.
Mr Corbyn, the apparent front-runner in the leadership race, reportedly said that the Tories’ flagship transport project would turn “our great regional cities into dormitories for London businesses”.
The Islington North MP was one just a dozen Labour MPs who opposed preparatory spending on HS2 in a 2013 vote in the House of Commons. Ed Miliband later pledged his support for the project.
Sources close to Mr Corbyn said he believed HS2 “benefited the few rather than then the many” and indicated he would renew his opposition if he became leader.
The withdrawal of Labour’s support of HS2 could prove fatal for Mr Cameron’s plans to begin construction, with a final vote on the legislation due this parliament.
Both the Prime Minister and Sir David Higgins, the chairman of HS2 Ltd, have said that political consensus is essential if the £50 billion project is to go ahead.
Should Mr Corbyn convince Labour MPs to oppose the project as leader just a dozen Tory rebels would be needed to defeat the government over HS2. In 2014, 26 Tory MPs rebelled on the topic.
It came as Mr Corbyn’s campaign team released a document outlining his vision for the North of England entitled “Northern Future” – the latest piece in his “Vision for Britain 2020”.
“The Conservative government has torn schools away from the support networks of local authorities, regardless of the wishes of teachers and parents, and made them accountable directly to Whitehall, bypassing parents and local communities,” the document said according to a Guardian report.
“They have suspended the much needed investment in rail infrastructure in the north to fund HS2, a project with the aim of turning our great regional cities into dormitories for London businesses.”
However when published on Tuesday the paragraphs mysteriously disappeared from the document. Mr Corbyn's constituency is close to where the new line is planned to be built.
The criticism of HS2 puts Mr Corbyn at odds both with Mr Cameron and Mr Miliband, who decided to back the project after protracted backroom negotiations.
The Prime Minister has said in the past that “concerted consensus across business, across politics” is needed to deliver HS2, while Sir David said cross-party support is “absolutely everything”.
A source close to Mr Corbyn told The Telegraph: “His view in the past was that there are alternative ways of investing in the transport infrastructure that did not benefit the few rather than then the many.
"Also he feared that High Speed Two destroyed large swathes of constituencies between Camden and seats up North, including many Conservative MPs' constituencies."
Jeremy Corbyn has won more trade union and contituency party endorsements than any other candidate
Elsewhere in the document, Mr Corbyn promised to “rebuild” the “industrial base” of the North after bemoaning the decline in British manufacturing since Margaret Thatcher’s premiership.
He also attacked George Osborne’s “Northern Powerhouse” strategy to devolve more power to Manchester and other councils as a “cruel deception” which would not allow them to block cuts demanded by the Treasury.
It came as The Telegraph learnt Alan Johnson, the former Home Secretary who many urged to stand for leader in recent years, backed Yvette Cooper.
The announcement is a coup for Mrs Cooper, the shadow home secretary, as Mr Johnson is a popular figure in the party and his backing is likely to swing large numbers of votes her way.
Asked about the criticism of HS2 apparently deleted from the policy document, a spokesman for Mr Corbyn said: "We are currently consulting on and having much discussion about how best to invest in the much needed modernisation programme of the British rail network. And HS2 is obviously part of that.
"As today's Northern Futures document shows, we will reveal more evidence-based detail of a national rail network, East to West as well as North to South, based on the needs of the economic rebalancing of the whole of the British Isles."
