Why the Tory rebellion over Boris Johnson’s HS2 plan has run out of track

Backbenchers accept they must be ‘gracious in defeat’ but demand proper compensation for constituents, writes political editor Andrew Woodcock

An anti-HS2 sign in Harefield, Greater London (Getty)

Boris Johnson’s announcement that the first stages of HS2 are to go ahead came as a bitter disappointment to a number of Conservative MPs with constituencies sited along the route of the high-speed rail line.

HS2 cuts through several of the leafy shires which form the Tory heartland, and MPs from Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire and Staffordshire have been among those complaining most loudly of the blight and uncertainty caused to residents.

Some said today that they would vote against the government in any future House of Commons motions about the controversial rail scheme.

But their opportunities for rebellion will be limited, as the legislation to pave the way for the first phase of the route – from London to Birmingham – has already passed into law, while the High Speed Rail (West Midlands-Crewe) Bill has cleared the Commons and only needs to complete the final stages of its passage through the Lords.

Further legislation will be required to authorise the Y-shaped final phase of the project, from Crewe to Manchester and from Birmingham to Leeds, but there is no timetable yet for its introduction into parliament, and it will anyway offer no opportunity to delay the commencement of work on phase one in April.

Lichfield MP Michael Fabricant, a vocal opponent of the proposed route, told The Independent: “If there is legislation, I certainly won’t be able to vote for it, but I don’t actually see that there will be many votes coming up on the issue.

“I see HS2 as a wasted opportunity, as it is a disconnected railway that neither links to HS1 and the Channel Tunnel nor to Heathrow nor even to Birmingham’s main rail interchange at New Street.”

But he added: “Regardless of any rebellion, it is likely that Labour will vote in support of HS2 regardless of its flaws as it has done in the past. So no return to nail-biting divisions.”

MPs on the route now look likely to concentrate their efforts on securing adequate compensation for constituents whose homes and land have lost value or become unsellable as a result of the announcement.

Buckingham MP Greg Smith told the PM to “keep central in your mind the blight it will bring to communities up and down the route, not just on the landscape but on people’s lives”.

Mr Smith said that households had already been left in “severe financial hardship” by preparatory work on the route and called for an independent body with tough powers to ensure they were properly compensated.

Chesham and Amersham MP Dame Cheryl Gillan said the decision was “hugely frustrating”, adding: “I will continue to forensically scrutinise this project. Both HS2 personnel and government must be held to account for the damage that they have already done to community relations and people’s lives in Buckinghamshire.”

Banbury MP Victoria Prentis said opponents of the line had to accept it was time to be “gracious in defeat”, but called on the prime minister to ensure there is adequate compensation for affected communities, in the form of additional funding for local services like hospitals.

Former cabinet minister Jeremy Wright, whose Kenilworth and Southam constituency in Warwickshire is sliced in half by the line, said HS2 Ltd “need to not just compensate more swiftly and more fairly, but communicate better than they have with those affected”.

Stone MP Sir Bill Cash said the decision would “bitterly disappoint” residents of his Staffordshire constituency and urged the PM to ensure the cities of Stoke and Stafford were properly linked into the new network.

Mr Johnson agreed it was “vital” that those adversely affected by HS2 should be given proper recompense.

But he made clear he would not be knocked off course, telling the Commons that every major infrastructure project from the M25 to the London Olympics had faced gales of criticism at the outset, and adding: “We have got to have the guts and foresight to drive this through.”