Britain has a problem. Well, it actually has quite a few but there’s one in particular that keeps rearing its ugly head. Every time it does, we’re told it’s going to cost more and it’s going to take longer. And I have no doubt that you already know what I’m talking about. It is of course HS2. If it was ever funny, it has long ceased to be so.Â
The transport secretary, Heidi Alexander, stood up in the House of Commons this week to deliver yet another humiliating indictment of our ability to build infrastructure projects (see our research into big spending projects gone wrong here) as HS2 was delayed yet again, missing the already pushed back target of 2033. Originally set to cost £37.5 billion to run to Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, HS2 Ltd’s own estimate now stands at £66 billion just to get to Birmingham while others put it at £100 billion.
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It was certainly welcome to hear the minister recognise HS2 as “an appalling mess” and cite “years of mismanagement and neglect” but, they’re plowing on regardless and expecting taxpayers to pick up the bill, just like the last government. Never before has something summed up the sunk cost fallacy so perfectly as HS2 does.Â
Speaking to journalists after the statement, John O’Connell made absolutely clear what he thought of it all: “Yet another delay to HS2 will do absolutely nothing to reassure taxpayers that this project can finally be brought back on track… Ministers should be ripping the plaster off and scrapping the scheme once and for all rather than continuing to throw good money after bad.”
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With its business case in tatters, years of delays ahead, and billions of pounds still to be forked out by taxpayers, it’s time this scheme was scrapped before even more cash is wasted. We’ve been opposing HS2 for years and while ministers have missed earlier chances to save money by stopping the scheme earlier, there’s no time like the present.Â
But we need your help. We’ve launched a digital letter writing campaign to call for HS2 to be cancelled before even more taxpayers’ money is lost on this white elephant. Click here to write to your MP now. All you need to do is pop in a few details and it will automatically generate an email to be sent to your local MP from you.Â
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Smoking & freedom with Forest's Simon Clark
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In this week's episode of a nation of taxpayers, I joined podcast host Duncan Barkes, and Simon Clark, director of Forest, the Freedom Organisation for the Right to Enjoy Smoking Tobacco.
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Perhaps unsurprisingly, we talked about the ongoing persecution of smokers, vapers, and why the puritans of the public health lobby won’t stop with nicotine.
Give the latest episode of a nation of taxpayers a listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and YouTube.
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Town Hall Rich List Roadshow: Northampton
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This week, we’ll be back on the road for the latest leg of our Town Hall Rich List Roadshow. Our team are heading to Northampton, home of West Northamptonshire council.Â
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With 25 employees enjoying six figure pay packets in 2023/24, West Northamptonshire had the joint highest number of staff getting over ÂŁ100,000 in the East Midlands.
We’ll be visiting Northampton on Wednesday. If you want to come along and meet the team, get in touch.
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This week marked 100 days of Birmingham’s bin strike. With no end in sight for the dispute between bin men and the council, William Yarwood paid a visit to Britain’s second city to mark this sorry milestone.Â
Surrounded by waste piling up in the streets, in the video below William explains just how the people of Birmingham found themselves in this situation and why it doesn’t look like it’ll be resolved any time soon.
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Rubbish isn’t the only thing piling up for Brummies. As Joanna Marchong’s latest investigation revealed, over £90,000 was spent on pest control during March when the strike started and over £400,000 has been spent so far this year. As Joanna told the Spectator: “Families in Birmingham will be appalled by the council’s blatant disregard for their health… After years of mismanagement, council leaders must focus on tackling bureaucratic waste so that they can get basic service delivery back on track for taxpayers.”
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In the week that pro-Palestine activists broke onto an RAF base and vandalised planes, a shocking rise in the number of security passes being lost by MoD staff has been revealed.
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More than 15,000 passes were lost in the last five years by MoD employees, with a further 1,000 reported stolen. And it looks like the situation is getting worse as 3,830 were lost last year compared to 2,043 in 2020. John was furious when he found out, telling the Telegraph: “It’s ludicrous that thousands of security passes have been lost or stolen by those in the very department meant to keep Britain safe.”
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Section 899: A Warning for the UK
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Matthew Bowles of the Institute of Economic Affairs returns to the TPA blog this week and takes a look at president Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and what it might mean for the UK. The bill is designed to punish “tax hostile” countries, a list which now includes the UK thanks to the digital services tax (DST) introduced in 2020, and it could have significant implications for Brits.
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With section 899 stripping away preferential tax treatment granted under existing US - UK treaties, it’s not just multi-national corporations that would be in the firing line but pension funds and ordinary investors too.Â
As Matthew argues, ministers should be reexamining the DST rather than looking to hit back at the US: “The UK’s response must be measured, but proactive. There’s little to gain from escalating the situation, especially against a transactional negotiator like President Trump. Tit-for-tat tax measures would only deepen uncertainty and likely further erode prospects of cooperation. It would be prudent for Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to reassess the DST. There is some merit to the US view in analysing this as a tax that unfairly harms American companies. If Washington is serious about using tax treaties as leverage, then our own policies must also be viewed through a strategic lens.” Have a read of Matthew’s blog in full here.
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Our old friends at UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) take centre stage again this week as it came out that nearly £30 million was handed out for research projects looking into pressing topics like the “ the circulation of gay male erotica and porn magazines in post-war Europe” and highlighting “ invisible women in Italian cinema”.
If HS2 is a lesson in how not to run an infrastructure project, UKRI is its equal for dishing out research grants. |
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Benjamin Elks
Grassroots Development Manager
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