Full speed ahead
Sir: William Astor (‘Signal failure’, 14 January) writes that High Speed 2 is supported only by ‘northern Labour MPs who relish the thought of the beauty of the Chilterns being destroyed’. He seems to have missed the MPs from across the House of Commons who joined forces this week to welcome the project.
Links between the north and the south of our nation are of vital importance. Better connections are great for jobs across the north of England, but they are also necessary for the overdue rebalancing of our economy to which the Prime Minister is firmly committed.
Lord Astor relies on the internet as proof that rail demand will decrease. The evidence suggests otherwise. The West Coast Mainline is now forecast to be completely full by 2024. The rail industry expects demand across the network to double by 2035. Demand for rail freight is set to double by 2030. With conventional rail lines freed up by HS2, this demand can be met. Capacity will also be released for local journeys, so that we will see more, faster travel between regional centres.
Lord Astor further ignores that the second phase of the plan includes a direct link to Heathrow; dismisses the shorter journey time from London to Birmingham; and overlooks the dramatic reductions in journey times that passengers will see from London to Manchester or Leeds.
I, too, love the countryside. But this is not an excuse to oppose a scheme that will create over 40,000 jobs, raise nearly £45 billion, and help close the north-south economic divide. High-speed rail will help build a modern economy fit for the future. As a Conservative northern MP, I wholeheartedly welcome the decision.
Graham Evans MP
Weaver Vale, Cheshire
Sir: David Cameron seems to have forgotten that he is a constituency MP, and that without the votes of the good people of Witney he would not be Prime Minister. I very much doubt if any of his constituents support the vainglorious high-speed rail link between London and Birmingham, as no one living along its route will be able to travel on it. This part of England has already been devastated by the M40, but at least those who live nearby have the use of it. Mr Cameron has vaunted its ‘success’ in a disingenuous attempt to justify his support for HS2, but surely this obviates the need to create yet more devastation to the countryside in the same region?
Julia Pickles
London SW1
Yesterday’s papers
Sir: Toby Young (‘Free the press!’, 14 January) should think again about his affection for the red-tops. They should be, as he says, ‘irreverent, funny, rambunctious, saucy, anti-establishment’. Just as they were when Hugh Cudlipp’s Daily Mirror sold five million a day. It derailed the pompous, unsettled the self-important — and ran brilliant political writing like William Connor’s famous Cassandra column and incisive cartoons by Vicky and Zec. They did it without prurient intrusiveness in the name of public interest. That kind of tabloid journalism came in, ironically, when Cudlipp’s Sun failed and he sold it to Rupert Murdoch.
Gerry Lewis
London NW3
Break the union!
Sir: You state that the Prime Minister ‘needs to fight and win a referendum on independence’ (Leading article, 7 January). Why? If Scotland became independent, the Labour party would lose 41 MPs, making it very much more difficult for them to win a majority in the House of Commons. And English taxpayers would be relieved of the subsidy we now pay to the Scots. What is the downside for a Conservative party whose strength lies in the English shires?
Richard Hoare
East Lavant, West Sussex
Sir: James Forsyth (Politics, 14 January) writes: ‘The Scottish First Minister could simply announce that he would withhold Scotland’s contribution to the United Kingdom’s foreign and defence budget…’ Is Mr Forsyth’s contention that Scotland is a net contributor to the UK budget? If so, it comes as news to me. If not, any such move can be more than offset by a reallocation of funds that would have gone to Scotland.
Jonathan Wilton
Wells, Norfolk
Distress signals
Sir: Your correspondents who write following Charles Moore’s comments (The Spectator’s Notes, 7 January) should consider joining the organisation Friends of Radio 3, who have an excellent website and are vigorous and effective campaigners.
Elizabeth Newlands
London N1
Sir: I recommend internet radio to those fleeing the dumbing-down of Radio 3. Klassik Radio or Klassik Radio Opera (Germany), M2 Classique (France), Rete Toscana Classique (Italy) are all good options. The best of all is Radio Suisse Classique. On one morning recently we heard Rachmaninov Piano Concerto No. 1, Elgar’s Enigma Variations, sonatas by Scarlatti and Handel’s Water Music, all unabridged and in excellent recordings.
John Nichols
Guildford, Surrey
Nuns of Leicester Square
Sir: Paul Fenton was trying to locate the school he went to in the 1950s in Leicester Square (Letters, 31 December). I grew up in Covent Garden and my mum’s school was in Leicester Square in the late 1940s. If it’s the same one, it was a few doors down from the Vue Cinema, on the site of the Charles Peguy centre. It was, I think, the forerunner of the French Lycée and was run by nuns — some of whom were quite naughty and smuggled things in the infants’ suitcases on a trip to Belgium. I hear the nuns were nice — not nearly as fearsome as Sister Camilla who ran St Joseph’s in Macklin Street!
Natasha Tobin
Poole, Dorset
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