‘High speed honours’
FIVE OF THE SIX MPS WHO SERVED ON FINAL HS2 COMMITTEE HAVE BEEN KNIGHTED IN THE LAST TWO YEARS
EVERY member of Parliament who served on the House of Commons HS2 bill select committee at its end has been knighted in the New Year’s Honours list.
Of the six MPs who served on the committee when it concluded in 2016, five have been awarded what have been dubbed ‘high speed knighthood’ within the last two years.
Tory MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown and Labour’s Mark Hendrick, who heard petitions from stakeholders, including those whose homes would be blighted by HS2, have been knighted.
The chair of the committee, Sir Robert Syms MP, was knighted in October while Dave Crausby was knighted in January 2016 and Henry Bellingham was knighted in 2016.
The Daily Mail reported Sir Robert as saying there was an “element of coincidence” to the knighthoods.
He went on to say: “The type of MP that serves on that sort of committee are the sort in line for recognition anyway.
“‘I have twice been in government and was on the front bench for ten years in opposition.”
The sixth member of the HS2 panel, Sir Peter Bottomley, was knighted in 2011, years before the committee was opened.
Three other MPs sat on the committee: Mike Thornton, who lost his seat in 2015; and Yasmin Qureshi and Ian Mearns, who both stepped down before the conclusion.
None of these three MPs were knighted.
The honours list stated that the knighthoods were to recognise their work on the committee “which sat for almost 100 days over eight months, taking evidence from up to 40 petitioners a day”.
The High Speed 2 hybrid bill became an Act of Parliament in February 2017, and preliminary construction work on the line, which connects London Euston to the West Midlands, following a route through west London and the Chilterns, began in late 2017.
The £56 billion project is forecast to be completed in 2026 and will shave half an hour off the journey time from London to Birmingham.
The scheme has come under criticism since it was first proposed for the impact it will have on homes and countryside, while others have branded it an unnecessary and very costly white elephant.
A second bill is now being prepared for Phase 2 of the HS2 project, which could see the rail network joined up with Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and the East Midlands if approved.
The House of Commons select committee on the first bill heard from 820 petitioners, many of whom complained that the lengthy construction process for the railway would ruin their homes and livelihoods.