In an impressive cross-party signing, the government has appointed Lord Adonis, the former Labour transport secretary, to oversee delivery of the HS2 railway. Lord Adonis gave birth to the idea of HS2 prior to the 2010 election and has remained a vocal advocate for the project ever since.
The transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin said in a statement he was ‘extremely pleased’ that Adonis is joining the board of HS2 Ltd as a non-executive director. Adonis himself described HS2 as a project of ‘national significance’:
‘Patrick McLoughlin has been a powerful advocate for the project and the government has risen to the challenge of thinking about the long-term by putting in place a strong team to deliver it.
‘Having pioneered HS2 from the very beginning I am really pleased to join the board responsible for delivering it. We must not duck this challenge of providing Britain with a railway fit for the 21st century.’
Signing up Adonis is a savvy move by the Department for Transport. He is a respected figure across all parties, for his work on transport as well as infrastructure and academies. So much so that when Simon Burns served as transport minister under the coalition government, he was heard telling staff to ask ‘what would Andrew Adonis do’.
This appointment will create another policy headache for Labour. HS2 has fallen off the radar, both in transport policy and for the government. While all the focus at the DfT has been on airport expansion recently, railways tend to stimulate less passion. It remains Labour party policy to back HS2 but Yvette Cooper and Andy Burnham have been more tepid in their support. The Tories will be hoping that appointing Adonis will box the next Labour leader into backing Hs2.
With regards to Burnham’s view on the project, tomorrow should provide a hint of his current thinking. Michael Dugher, the shadow transport secretary, will be taking part in transport questions with McLoughlin and I understand he will be asking about railway electrification. HS2 is likely to come up and given that Dugher is also chairing Burnham’s leadership campaign, whatever he says about this will reflect Burnham’s current thinking.
Comments