There are a lot of number floating around today regarding HS2. Tory spinners proudly say that the project will create 40,000 jobs. Given the woefully underestimated price tag is currently at £32 billion, it seems that the Tories have no problem with the taxpayer paying a cool £800,000 for each job. Given that the final cost is likely to be closer to £60 billion, the “expected” generation of £45 billion in “cash benefits for businesses around the country” looks equally shaky.

Add to that the extra half a billion for the new tunnel to avoid upsetting the NIMBYs, as well as helpfully staving off a rebellion in Parliament, and you have political spending of Brownite proportions.