Rumours and reports suggest the government is on the verge of affirming the go-ahead for HS2 before HS3 and blocking or delaying Heathrow’s third runway. This seems to Guido precisely the wrong order of priority. London’s airport capacity is way below what is needed, as anyone who has spent their time in a holding pattern flying around London after a long haul flight knows. HS2 is opposed by many of the new Northern intake of Tory MPs, many of whom would rather spend the billions on local transport projects fixing the lack of connectivity in the North, particularly East-West. Polling shows HS3 is far more popular with voters than HS2.

Guido can’t understand why travelling from Birmingham to London 20 minutes quicker is the priority. Unless Birmingham Airport is to effectively become London’s fourth airport…