Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander has confirmed in the Commons that HS2 will be delayed yet again. The railway line between London and Birmingham won’t be finished by 2033 as promised. It’s been kicked into the long grass for at least another two years…
Guido was the first to report five months ago that the stretch from Old Oak Common to Birmingham Curzon Street was going to being delayed by several years. Alexander blamed a “litany of failure” for the ballooning cost – now £37 billion over budget – yet insisted ministers are now “turning the page on infrastructure failures.” No word on when the line will be completed, or how much more the taxpayer will have to fork out for it. This project was off the rails from the start…
Tom Baldwin, author of Starmer’s hagiography, spoke to Times Radio:
Tom Baldwin: “I think he’d like to do something. He’s very dutiful and driven by service. That’s why he came into politics. I think that’s characterised his time as prime minister. He hasn’t always sought popularity or been good at being popular. But I think he has some of the necessary qualities that we actually do want in a prime minister. That resilience, that relentlessness, that ability to carry the weight and the job really does weigh very heavily on people and he carries that weight very, very well.”
Jo Coburn: “NATO Secretary-General?”
Tom Baldwin: “I think that’s something that he would be interested in. I think it probably requires Andy Burnham’s government to support him in that and these are some of the questions which Andy Burnham has to resolve quite quickly.”