HS2 and You are following the debate on the second reading of the High Speed 2 Bill with news and comments both on and off the tracks

 

23.57 SUMMARY

• The Government has secured a second reading for the High Speed Rail bill more than comfortably seeing off a ‘rebellion’ by 451 votes  to 50
• Labour has come of the fence and voted with the Government on the bill. They said that the Higgins report and the furher extesnsion of route to Crewe were the reasons for it shift of position.
• The Bill will now go onto its committee stage.

Thats it from us.  Good night

23.40

Well there you have it. The Government have secured a second reading to the High Speed Rail Bill, easily as it happens.  A majority of over 400 members means that the bill now goes  into committee. Rebel leaders spoke of a cosy alliance betwwen Labour and the Conservatives for the bill and this made their efforts to de railo the bill a pretty hopeless quest.

There’s still a great deal more to happen at Westminster as the peitioning on the impacts of the route on local communities will be put to the cross party grouping of MP’s.

We can expect the Goivernment to launch a new compensation scheme for properties owners affected by the line – there was a common theme from opponents to the rail line criticising the current scheme  so it will be interesting to see how much of the criticism they have taken on board.

Highlights for me during the day has to be the surprise annoucement by David Lidington to resign from the Giovernment if mitigation measures to reduce the impact of Hs2in (particular a Chiltern Tunnel) are not in place by the time the Commons next debates the bill. This vote may come after the next general election and Lidington may not have a Government job to resign from.

23.35

Here’s the vote and the Government have secured a second reading for HS2 Bill by 452 votes to 41

23.33

Rebellion? What rebellion. A 400 plus majority is pretty stronfg indication that the case for Hs2 is accepted by the overwhelming majority of MPs

Maybe we should think of another word for this now that the vote is in. We’ll be looking for more reaction to the vote and posting a summary of the debate and the other stops along the way for Hs2 after tonight.

23.26

Deputy Speaker is back in his chair and the second vote is due soon. No question that the Government are through.

23.25

Waiting for the second vote – a formality really, the Government are home and dry. Chris Ship has a view on hnow much of that 50 was made up of Tory MPs

23.19

The amendment has been lost, pretty comprehensively. The vote is closer to the Spectators predictions than the BBC so well done Fraser Nelson’s clan. There’s now going to be a vote on the substantive motion (unamended) to give the bill a second reading.

23.16

The tellers – are facing the Speakers Chair. I think we are there. Eyes 50 No 451

23.10

Apologies, we know to expect a vote – that’s what has been going on since the Government finished the debate. We’re waiting for the result. I have to say that although members are no longer debating the chatter in he house is as loud as it was while the debate was going on. Not the set piece moment of the Mother Of Parliaments – a bit of a damp squib really. Not helped by 5  minutes time limits for speeches. Any way we should soon know how much potency there is on the Government benches among the Hs2 oppositionistas. The BBC reported 30 MPs would vote against and the Spectator called it at higher at 40.

23.09

Lobby doors are closed and we are expecting a vote now.

 

23.03

Teller have been selected for the amendment now.

23.01

Government response now from Robert Goodwill.

Construction will begin in 2017 he confirms. On  environmental impact he admits there will but there will be” no net loss in biodiversity and no net loss of wildlife.” He’s boasting about the Government’s extensive consultation.

Now  onto the compensation scheme that was a big feature of the oppostion assault on the bill this evening. Goodwill says; “People near the scheme will receive compensations”.  An further  compensation scheme will be launched by the Government and there will be no distance measure for applicants. The express buy scheme is already in place for properties affected by blight. “We believe that they are fair and provide value of money to the taxt payer.”

He thanks Labour for their support and cheekily says “Tt was their idea in the first place.” The Government will respond to the phase 2 consultation in November he tells Greenwoood.

Costs have increased because of the “costs of  comprehensive mitigation” he says, opponents cannot have the argumenrt both ways on HS2.

“Tonight the house faces a profound decisons. It must be satisfied about HS2 and that all the appropriate measure are in place environmentally.” That’s Goodwin down and we are moving to a division on the amendment.

 

22.40

We are in the back straight of the debate now with Lilian Greenwood from the Labour benches closing the debate for Labour. She is on to the WCML’s challenging twists gradients and curves that continue to inhibit bringing it up to speed for the 21st century.  “Lack of capacity is not an abstract problem, irts demands are already being felt.” The crumbling edge of quality is what midlands passengers are experiencing as a result. “The message is clear we need  more capacity.Hs2 is the plan to provide it.” She roles in against those who ask for an upgrade of the existing linbe ” asucgh a project would deliver half the capacity of the existing line,” she says. NO prospect of the bill receiving royal assent before the next general election is a major drawback Greenwood has said. She slams the compensation schemes travails before the courts.

Now we are back to costs and she credits Labour for getting the costs spiral under control. she says Labour has ensured “proper value for tax payers money” and that Labour will be a “critical friend” of bill and  “the taxpayers friend”.

On to the consultation for phase 2 Greenwood wants to decouple the vote tonight on the future route of the track in the north.

She’s onto changes and mitigation and says ” unlike the mayor of London we dont  ignore serious concerns for the environment.” The Mayor parcelled opposition to Hs2 as nimbies.

Greenwood finishes by calling on members to give the bill a second reading.

 

22.38

Mark Reckless is up and speaking enthusiastically in support of HS2.  “I think there is a degree of pessimism bias. Long distance rail travel has grown by 5.2 per cent  a year and yet we are predicting going forward that it will grow by 2 per cent. we need more realistic projections on benefits and costs.”

22.26

Philip Lee admits that he spent the evening being baffled by the speeches of  his fellow members. He’s going to abstain tonight on the bill. His bafflement is about the bills aims to transport people quickly while Leee thinks that future investment should be about transporting data faster. Investment in advanced technology or broadband speeds he argued was more likely to  benefit the economy.

22.19

Barry Sherman (Huddersfield ) was a HS2 backer. In the debate he made clear that he was now against the scheme being unconvinced on the benefits to the north.

Not often that you see a Labour MP in agreement with the Institute of Economic Affair, but we’ve had a few strange bedfellows cosying up to each other tonight.

22.16

We spoke about the all important petitioning committee – effectrively the MPs that will be involved with deciding on what parts of the route they will change  from petitioners concerned with parts of the route. One member of that committee has gone public tonight on which way he’s voting,

 

22.15

MPs are surfacing on twitter now with their view on the debate. Here are a sample of the more interesting ones. From Christopher Pincher (Tamworth) who’s against the scheme:

Andy Slaughter ( Hammersmith) where Hs2 will cut through Worwood Scrubs and see a terminal at Old Oak Common. He supports the scheme but has problems with the impact on the Scrubs and the powers that the Mayor London, Boris Johnson, will have over development in the area. The Mayor does not go down well in Mr Slaughter’s constituency for providing affordable housing.

22:00 SUMMARY

Here’s a quick update of the debate and reactions so far

• The HS2 bill looks set to get its second reading in the Commons. Labour will support the Government in the lobby tonight and back the bill.
• The rebels are resigned to the bill making progress and criticised the Government and Labour’s “cosy alliance”.
• MPs have been limited to making 5 minute speeches. A vote is expected at around 10.30pm

21.41

Stewart Andrew is speaking. He’s a Leeds MP and pro the bill. But take a look at the audience listening to his upbeat speech on the high speed benefits to the north.

21.29

John McDonnell MP for Hillingdon and no stranger to pushing back on major infrastructure projects impacting on local people – his constituency would have been under  the concrete of Heathrow’s third runway expansion had happened. Curiously the MP who made the case against airport expansion by arguing for better rail is opposed to HS2. Why? Its complicated. The Davies review into airport expansion wont report until after the next election so Mr McDonnell says that he cannot tell his constituents what will happen to Heathrow (will it remain  the UK’s major transport hub is one of the questions Davis will have to answer).

 21.04

Cheryl Gillan spoke about “cosy alliances” in her speech opposing the bill second reading but its a good way to describe Gary Streeter, Adrian Sanders and Ben Bradshaw are going to abstain on voting for bill second reading, They are respectively the Tory member for South Devon, the Lib Dem member for Torbay and the Labour MP for Exeter. I don’t suppose Ms Gillan is against this kind of cross party cosying.  We’ve tweeted messrs Streater, Sanders and Bradshaw to get the reasons behind their abstentions.

20.56

Signs of life from MPs on twitter. Adrian Saunders – Lib Dem MP for Torbay – has retweeted the following on fellow MPs abstainiong on HS2 tonight. Its the south  west contingent of MPs who were being organised by Ben Bradshaw to put the Government’s feet to the fire to secure increased investment to local commuter trains as the price for supporting Hs2.  Looks these MPs are not too happy with action since this threat.

20.40

Lyn Brown MP for West Ham is making a telling intervention which must be music to the ears of  Camden’s and anyone else who wants to restore the HS1/Hs2 link.

Ms Brown points to the fact that although it has an international station that links with HS1 from Kings Cross, Stratford International station does not take you directly to Europe,  much to the chagrin of Robin Wales Newham’s mayor and a host of east London boosters that include Westfield. She has a point. Newham is at the centre of the Olympic development and the whole rationale behind it was to regenerate east London. So why not forget about Euston and make the link via Stratford International? That Newham argument is here.

 

20.35

Natascha Engel has just finished speaking. She is another oponent of the bill and a signatory of the Gillan cross party amendment. Bill Cash is speaking now and is following through on the shortcomings of the compensation scheme  for HS2 . Cash wants a property bond scheme that he proposed to the select committee to deal with compensation claims. Cash says the economic case has not been made and the compensation levels are  not adequate. He wants the select committee to look at the impact on serious blight that will affect residents close to the scheme. He has closed by encouraging the transport secretary to look at the property bond scheme. We will have to look at it as well

20.31

Jonathan Edwards speech has raised again the Barnet Consequential into the HS2 debate but what are they?

The Plaid Cymru MPs complaint is that Hs2 does not benefit the people of Wales although Welsh tax payers are paying for it. The share out of the nations spoils amongst the regions was anticipated by the Callaghan Labour Government in the 1970s as the fairest way to distribute resources to what was expected to be a newly devolved Scotland and Wales after a devolution bill passed the commons to shore up suport for a minority Labour government from the Scottish Nationalist Party.  The vote did not work out that way but the Barnett formula was retained and has pretty much come into its own in these post devolution times.  Got it? This may help.

20.22

Government whips are having an easy night of it as far as getting this particular measure through the house. They’ll gain further comfort from a ComRes poll of MPs on their  support for HS2.  The pollsters questioned 150 MPs on Hs2 and found that only 30 per cent of MPs were completely opposed to the line.53 per cent of MPs supported the bill. As far as the representation of opposition forces within the three main parties they are evenly split at 30 per cent a piece.  No wonder the vote tonight is whipped Andrew Hawkins of ComRes says;

Despite the whipped vote tonight, our poll reveals the true extent of unease among MPs of all parties towards Hs2.

That poll is here.

20.01

While we were summarising the latest the Scottish National Party were speaking in support of the bill. The Scotsman reported Alex Salmonds support of the scheme and that an  pro independence vote will not get in the way of construction.  Ministers might demur from that view. You can read the Scotsman story here.

Plaid Cyrmu’s Jonathan Edwards – my name sake –  have caught the speakers eye and will be giving his take on the scheme  from this indication;

Plaid Cyrmu’s position is the complete opposite to that of the nationalist breathren above Hadrian Wall. They see no benefits of the high speed scheme in its current form benefitting Wales.

 

 19.36 SUMMARY

Lets  summarise where we are with the debate so far

• Labour is backing the Government at the second reading debate on high speed 2.
• The transport Secretary Patrick McCloughlin has said that HS2 has ” the power to change the nation profoundly and for the better.” 
• Labour has accused the Government of “years of delay and mismanagement” of Hs2 which has  caused costs to rise but  said that the Higgin report and the extension of the line  to Crewe has swung them into support for the bill.
• Critics of the bill have acccused the Government and Labour of a “cosy alliance” but have conceded that the  rebellion will not derail the bill.

 19.31

HS2  is a “vanity project” according to Kate Hoey MP. She’s the Vauxhall MP in London and not directly affected by the line but she thinks that there are better ways for £50 billion to be spent. She wants a Labour Chancellor to look at the scheme again. I don ‘t  think she was listening to the Labour front bench.

19.29

Dan Byles, another rebel, has questioned whether there were enough resources behinds the public consultation that HS2 Ltd have conducted on the impacts of the rail line on local communities. Local voices in his consituency have not been heard and  are now reliant on the select committee and the petitioning phase of the bill. MPs that will sitting  on the petitioning committee will be marked men and women. I will post shortly on who they are and what they will be expected to do.

19.21

Robert Fiello MP is up and oppposed to the scheme. He has hit upon dealing with the capacity issues by introducing double decker trains. This has been an option that was looked at by the Government  and there is a useful use of 140 characters on twitter which explains the problems with it.

 

19.09

Back to the Commons and we have had a string of 5 minute speeches from supporters of HS2.

Graham Stringer former leader of Manchester City Council and one of the cities MPs was on his feet when we were searching twitter.

Glenda Jacskon was next and made the case for high speed rail by backing the need to rebalance the economy and deal with housing  affordability and pressures on local services caused by the growth imbalances of north and south.

Karen Lumley (Redditch) is now up on her feet backing the bill and putting in a plug for Hs2 training college to be based in her constituency. Government whips may yet repay Ms Lumley for her loyalty.

 

19.02

Ed Balls has surfaced via twitter with a curious message on HS2. But just what does he mean by this;

18.46

Lets step out of the chamber for a minute or two to see how the debate is going down in the homes, hamlets and twitter accounts of the supporters, opposers and neutrals of the scheme.

Outside Westminster there have been protests organised by high speed rail opponents

Its not a much of a turnout as HS2 supporters have been keen to point out.

There seem to be more people outside of the Commons chamber than there are inside debating the bill though

 

18.42

Michael Fabricant says that he is going to vote against his party for the first time in his parliamentary career. He says ” I hope for the benefit of the whips, it will be the last time.

18.37

“Compensation for people in my area are worse in urban areas,” Dobson  says. Thatcher’s children he says that took advantage of right to buy will not get enough money from the compensation scheme to buy in the local area.

18.35

Frank Dobson is talking about the impact of HS2 in Camden. The accent of his comments are about the disruption that will caused during the 10 years duration of the works. He says that the passing trade that a lot of the businesses rely on would be cut off from a 10 foot wall that will separate them from the passing trade.

18.33

I should say that MPs have been limited to speak for only 5 minutes. Is it the case that the amount of time members have to discuss Government measures is in inverse proportion to how voluminous the bill is?

18.31

“Its capacity, capacity, capacity, as former Prime Minister said about another matter.” Simon Burns says rather jokingly in a reference to Tony Blair’s creed to prioritise education reform and investment. He’s backing HS2 and thinks that the capacity concerns on the West Coast Mainline need to be dealt with.

 

18.28

Louise Elman, Transport Select Committe chair is the second MP to speak up in support of HS2. Her select committe has looked at the progress of the bill on a  number of occassions . Its been a tough ride for the Government and KPMG at times but the select committee’s view has been overall backing for the scheme.

18.21

Gillan has finished speaking and the chair of the transport select commitee is now on her feet. Gilan concluded with mention of that MPA report again. The report, that the Information Commissioner is going to take the Government to High Court over, apparently has rated the risks of the scheme as “amber/red”. Gillan says that with high speed 2 being  a scheme “of such risk”  the MPA report should have been made availabkle to MPs in time for the debate.

18.06

Cheryl Gillan is moving the amendment its a cross party one. She says she wants to “break the cosy alliance between the Government and Labour”.  She says that she will not give way because she does not have time – which has put some members noses out of joints.  “HS2 will do veryt little, or absolutely nothing at all to deal with commuter capacity”  On benefits to the north she backs the IEA report that says there is no peer reviewed economic research that back the claim of improvements to growth. ” If that was the case Ebsfleet would be a boom town. HS2 will sap growth from the regions to London” she says. 

 

 

18.05

Creagh concludes that high speed rail is nothing new, the Great Western Line of Brunel’s was the first. HS2 will  “Rebalance the economy and connect our cities and make our railways fit for the 21st century.”

Creagh says Labour will hold the Government to account on the climate change reductions and environmental impact of high speeed rail. Along with the One Nation front behind Labour’s support for the bill it was the green corridor idea for extensive mitigation wildlife and ancient woodland that Creagh said should

18.00

Creagh backs the scheme becasue of carbon reduction benefits but she is challenged on this. Reductions will depend on whether HS2 can encourage people to make ‘modal shifts’ from more carbon producing vehicles and transport modes.

17.57

Bill Cash MP wants Mary Creagh to explain the benefits of Hs2 to his constituents in the midlands -she made a passing comment in her speech to the region  being specific beneficiaries. Mr Cash is a permanent member of the Government’s rebellious tendency and an opponent of the bill so he wont be impressed with Creagh’s answer.

17.52

We want a one nation economy to rebalance growth across the regions,”she says We ‘ve had the Olympics, and Cross rail that will transform travel in London. Its time for the rest of the UK to benefit, Creagh says.

 

17.49

” Four years of delay and mismanagement has caused costs to rise” Ms Creagh says. She is slamming the Government for their handling of HS2. Kate Hoey asks at what costs will the Labour Party withdraw from the scheme? Hoey is a Labour MP and an opponent of the bill. Ms Creagh again says that the costs will be looked at after it comes out of committee.

17.45

One of the risks of all party backing for a Government measure is that opposition spokespersons are treated with as much short shrift as paid Ministers. Mary Creagh is getting a lot of stick from opponents of the bill. Almost as if she were a part of the transport secretary’s team.

Barry Sherman from Huddlesfield points to the IEA report on High Speed 2 and says that as a previous supporter of HS2 he is now oppossed to the scheme because of the dubious business benefits to the north. He asks if she has seen the report. Ms Creagh in response backs the costs benefit case made by the  Governement.

17.42

Caroline Lucas asks whether there can be any mitigation for loss of ancient woodlands lost by HS2 – Mary Creagh spoke about the need for mitigation measures to deal with the impact of the rail  line. Quite a dig in her response. She says that as a Green MP Caroline Lucas’s position in not backing a scheme that would reduce the carbon footprint is odd.

17.36

Is Hs2 support by Labour contingent on it coming in under £50 billion Mary Creagh is asked? She’ll wait for the bill to come out of committee. Interesting.

17.34

Creagh is wrapping the HS2 scheme as part of the One Nation Labour project. She is asked pointedly what it was that got Labour to turn on the scheme. Higgins and extension to the north is the reason she cites for Labour’s confidence as well as the benefits to the environment.

17.33

Patrick McCloughlin ends and Mary Creagh replies. Already the mention of both benches in support has gotten a Tory opponent to their feet claiming that agreement between Government and opposition benches usually means that something is wrong. “Isn’t she a tinsy winsy bit worried about this?” he asks. I think he’ll regret this Ms Creagh is focusing on the tinsy winsy aspect of the question –  the kind of public school bot joke that delights the house.

17.30

A bit of a peroration here from McCloughlin. Hs2 has ” the power to change the nation profoundly and for the better.” He’s linking HS2 with the canals, railways and motorways that have  “left their lasting legacy.” He concludes ” I know the potential of Britain.”

17.27

The Major Projects Authority’s report that the transport minister vetoed the publication of and which is being challenged by the Information Commission is raised by a Conservative member. McCloughlin says that he was right to veto publication, Civil servants should be able to give candid advice to ministers.

 

17.25

Minister is very well briefed on the impacts of the scheme on local areas, some consolation to grass roots campaigners that the message has gotten across. Minister is though not going to be swayed and says that “We usually get a huge improvement for general infrastructure for the nation.”

 

17.21

Liam Byrne has come in too on this one. There is a big issue of planning blight in west Birmingham – its the old LDV site that we featured. McCloughlin says that the Government havce looked at the site carefully and are convinced of the scheme.

17.18

Says that if more mitigation measure can be taken the transport secretary says that he will take them. This has got Conservative members on their feet about what households will be covered by the compensation payments. There has been a lot in the media about how close houses and  businesses need to be to the track before eligibale for compensation. Transport Secretary says that he can’t be drawn on this as the plans are “still out to consultation.”

 

17.17

McCloughlin confirms that HS1 will not be a feature of the bill. He says that the environment impact statement is the most extensive ever carried. He also points to compliance wih European law. An interesting diversion from the secretary of state in his speech as we know that the High Speed 2 Alliance plan a judical review against the Government on this front.

17.13

A member asks  “What’s in it for Coventry?” A question on everybody lips? The Minister is well briefed and seems to suggest a level of connectivity with the area that it will be pointless to punish anyone by sending them there.

17.11

We’re on to Higgins report. McCloughlin on to the contingency budget and how tokeep it under control. he says “some people ask we why are you rushing it, and others ask why is it taking too long.” Hwe says that the Government are doing things properly.  We already know that he backs Higgins report and this evening he has re affirmed it.

17.09

Minister speech waylaid again, this time by Barnett consequentials. Who they? Another legacy from Joel Barnett, the irrepressible Chief Secretary to the Treasury under Denis Healy in the Callaghan Labour Government.

17.06

This has prompted Frank Dobson to come in –  mention of St Pancras and Kings Cross are both in his contituency and are the result of spending by the last Labour Government. Mr Dobson asks about the hidden costs of Crossrail 2 ans whether these are factored into HS2’s overall costs. Cant say I git the gist of the Transport Secretary’s answer and neither did Mr Dosbson I think.

17.01

Minister is talking the government’s book well on HS2 as part of overall tramsport investment. Crossrail and Kings  Crioss have created ‘real destinations, that people want to go to.’

16:59

Minister and former Labour Home Secretary Jack Straw are in agreement on HS2 and the benefits it brings to the north. Mr Straw’s differences with the minister are focused on the overly generous compensation arrangements to the Chilterns as oppsed to urban areas. Mr Straw is the MP for Blackburn

16.55

Minister accepts a good point about how earlier oppostions to past infrastructyure schemes has resulted in support when they have been built.

 

16.54

McClouglin is answering a pointed question from a MP on the Tory benches none too friendly on rail capacity. The suggestion behind the question is that the capacity increases will benefit businessmen. The ministers demurs and says that relieving capacity via Hs2 will ease capacity on other lines.

16.52

McCloughlin is in his flow now detailing Government ambitions for transport and current spending. He says its wrong that you can go high speed from London to Lille but not to Birmingham.

German and China have been reeking the benefits of High speed rail , he says while the UK has not.

16.45

Sincere apologies the debate has started and we are behind the curve. Patrick McLoughlin has responded to a question from John Redwood on the cost benefits case. He’s hinting that the cost ratio is even less than that held by the Government if interests rates are added.  The Mionister says that if the cost benefit ratio was considered the Jubilee line would not have been built.

Frank Field from Birkenhead has come in on benefits of the scheme to north of a north south link compared to connectivity – you’ll hear that word a lot tonight – from west to east linking northern town. Mc Cloughlin is being very polite but every so gently put out that the questions being put to him are going to be covered in his speech, if only he could get along with it.

16. 35

We are asked earlier who are the rebels that will be voting against second reading of the bill but its interesting to note one  of the bill’s supporters,Glenda Jackson MP for Hampstead and Kilburn. Ms Jackson’s constituency makes up part of Labour run Camden council who have been vociferously opposed to the HS2.  Ms Jackson – a former transport minister in the last Labour Government is backing the scheme and will part company with Frank Dobson who will break the whip and vote against. Ms Jackson remained unrepentant about her decision to the Camden New Journal;

We are seeing the economic gap between the north and the south widening all the time. The great magnet of London ios drawing more people into it. The availability of affordable housing is off the scale. Pressure is being put on schools. We could see that money frittered away on smaller things but it would not have the same impact. That is why Iam suppporting it.

Gkenda Jackson wont be standing at the next general election which probably explains her far sightedness to see further than the boundaries of her London connstituency. She does originally hail from the Wirral.

16:13

We’re still waiting for the second reading tdebate to start after the statement on Ukraine, but here’s another tweet plucked from the twittersphere making a pointed dig at the economic case for high speed rail.

 

 15.43

While we digitally twiddle our thumbs lets see whats out there in the twittersphere on the bill.  Morbid forms indeed are the shape of politcial alliances in these austerity pressed times and to these must be added the Taxpayers Alliance and the Green Party. Their opposition to HS2 has bought about a common cause which has been on display outside Parliament.

 

 

 

14.40

We are hearing that the HS2 debate is running late. Its being pushed back for a statement on Ukraine and is expected to begin at 4.30pm

14. 12

Does Mr Lidington know something we don’t know on generous mitigation messures to come if the High Speed 2 bill gets through its second stage? Reading his comments in the Bucks Herald there is an interesting sentence that explains why as an opponent to HS2 he has decided to remain deep behind enemy lines rather than resign:

If I stood down I would just be one more MP that is against HS2, but by staying in I have the inside track, its a pragmatic political judgement.

Lidington believes that he is doing right by his constituents by staying in the government and having an inside track to influence fellow ministers.

Its desperately important that our area is at the table when ministers are taking decisions about environmental mitigation and compensation.

Is the Chilterns tunnel a done deal then?

 

13.47

As we speak a statement from David Lidington has just been released on his position on HS2. He will abstain tonight on the debate bur has has told The Bucks Herald local news that he will resign as a minister if a gerernous deal for resident affected by the line is not reached by the time the bill is next voted on.  Here a direct quote from the minister;

I have decided to abstain but I remain opposed to HS2. I’ve fought alongside campaigners and the Prime Minister knows my view. The key test for me, given that there is a massive cross-party majority in favour of the scheme, is can we get the generous and fair mitigation that the local area deserves?

I will resign at a later stage of the bill if they don’t get mitigation and that for me includes a Chiltern tunnel.

13.23

On that story of  sickies being administered for government ministers representing constituencies affected by HS2, David Lidington’s absence apparently raised the greatest laugh at the No 10 press briefing this afternoon. Mr Liddington found a good reason to be absent for the debate on the HS2 paving bill last November but has exceeded himself this time by being in Estonia on government business. His local news paper may not be impressd with his absence though. A  forthright comment by the editor of The Bucks Herald asks;

Mr Lidington has conveniently been out of the country and unable to take part in any votes so far. So on Monday will he do the right thing, turn up at the house and say No to HS2 as is the demand from many constituents?

 

13.05

It looks as if senior cabinet ministers whose constituencies are affected by HS2 have been given sick notes by No 10 not to attend the HS2 debate. Andrew Sparrow reports that a No 10 press spokesman did not rule out the claim ministers who oppose HS2 because of its affects on their constituencies will be able to absent themselves from the debate. On our reckoning this adds up to six ministers who willl be no shows – Attorney General Dominic Grieve, Cabinet Office  Minister Jeremy Wright, David Liddington Europe Minister,, Nick Hurd Civil Society minister,Andrea Leadsom economic secretary and David Guake also at the Treasury.

 

12.50

Who are the rebels and what do they hope to achieve? On the whole they are made up of those MPs whoise constituencies are most affected by the HS2 and where the UK Independence Party hopes to make considerable in roads. As a former cabinet minister Cheryl Gillan, former  is the most high profile rebel. She has been joined by the colourful and tweet obsesseed Michael Fabricant. Fabricant was recently sacked from his job as Tory vice chair for his oppostion to HS2 and his undisguised relief that former Culture Secretary Maria Miller resigned. Both Gillan and Fabricant have tabled motions which ask their fellow MPs to reject the bill.  Its pretty long and you can read it  here.

Fabricant’s motion has the support of Sir Edward Leigh, Jeremy Lefroy, David Davis, David Nuttal, William Cash,Caroline Spelman, Bob Blackman,Chris Kelly and Andrew Turner. Gillan’s motion has a more cross party flavour and I siuspect it has a strong basis for being called because of that.  Labour MPs including Frank Dobson, KateHoey, Kelvin Hopkins and Natascha Engel are signatories to the motion along with Caroline Lucas, the sole Green MP.  Conservatives supporters for the Gillan measure include Andrew Bridgen, Tim Loughton, David Nuttal, Philip Lee, Dan Byles, Chris Kelly, Christopher Chope, David Davis and Andrew Turner

 

12.31

Hello and welcome to HS2 and You’s live blog on the thrills and spills leading up to the second reading of the hybrid bill this afternoon.

Well its finally here! The second reading is set for  about 2.30pm. The Government whips are  confident that the bill will achieve its second reading, but the Telegraph reports that  around 40 rebels on the Conservative benches will vote against the bill. Labour support should ensure that the bill will go through to its  committee stage. There’s still a great deal to  report though as we head  up to the debate proper.

The morning news has been full with last minute advice to MPs who are yet to make up their minds on wheich way to vote – if a three line whip has not helped them to concentrate their minds. We’ll bring you a summary of these along with the news on HS2 over the weekend and a full round up what’s been happening on the hour.

For any MP who are undecided about which way to vote the weekend papers blogs and twitter streams have been surfeet with advice about which lobby to walk into. Here’s a bit of background reading for any MP’s who missed out.

First up Cheryl Gillan former Wales Secretary made a blistering attack on HS2 in Conservative Home. The MP for Chesham and Amersham resigned from the cabinet to spend more time opposing the scheme which will cut a large swathe through her constituency. Of note Ms Gillan has a go at the HS2 bydget and suggest that the real costs are  far greater

The budget currently stands at £50 billion at 2011 prices, but this is npot the complete picture. The budget does not reflect any interest payments which , since the taxpayer is funding it, should at least be acknowledged. To get some of the benefits the costs of building Crossrail 2 at an estimated £14 billion need to be considered too. Then there is the cost of connmecting HS2 stations to the existing infrastructure, and the cost of property blight which some estimate at around some £12 billion

We’ll leave you to do the maths on what the real HS2 costs will come in at.

The enigma that has been Labour’s postion on HS2 has ended with a categoric assertion by Mary Creagh shadow transport secretary that Labour would be voting with the Government on the second reading of the bill. It seems that wildlife mitigation swung it for Labour – there’s been intense activity from wildlife groups to preserve the anciient woodlands and scences of outstanding natural beauty as  reported here. But it was recognition that a party that espouses one nation values would find it very uncomfortable to be on the opposite side of a scheme that wants to rebalance the economy.  Here’s what Ms Creagh had to say in the Independent;

Labour is backing this new line which will cut congestion on the railways, better connect our major cities and help to deliver a one nation economic recovery. HS2 will improve connections between north and south and between northern cities