Axe HS2 – we just can’t afford it
When we reach the other side of this pandemic, there will be a huge black hole in our coffers. I suggest this would be the ideal time to scrap the totally unnecessary HS2, as we simply cannot afford it.
Vast countries such as the US, Russia and Canada could rightly claim the need for super-speed trains. But spending billions to shave 20 minutes from the journey time from London to Birmingham is complete folly. Geoff Heyes,
Bushey, Hertfordshire
With the Government covering the wages of furloughed staff, putting more money into the NHS and not
collecting as much tax revenue, I believe the time is right for some drastic savings. Two areas to be challenged immediately are the £14 billion-a-year overseas aid budget and HS2. These savings would go some way to offsetting the financial and economic problems which will confront us for some years to come. Martyn Lloyd, Swansea
Whatever the rights and wrongs of the lockdown, the economic consequences will be enormous. Unemployment will surge, firms will go to the wall and tax revenues will plummet. Therefore, HS2 must be abandoned and foreign aid will have to be stopped immediately. Economically, we simply cannot go on in the same way as before.
R. Walker, Cheltenham
The cost of the Government response to this pandemic should now force the Chancellor to cancel HS2 and use the savings from that to rebuild the economy and create new jobs. If the Government raises taxes to finance the pandemic response, the economy will enter recession and will actually cost the country more money in the long term. Cameron Camilla Boyle,
Leicester