MPs’ shameful silence on great train robbery

THREE important statements regarding railways have been made in the last few days. The first was by Boris Johnson giving the “green light” to the £106bn High Speed rail project between London and Birmingham and then on to Manchester and Leeds.

The second was by Professor Mark Barry, who advises the Welsh Government on transport and who said the HS2 project would not benefit Wales and was likely to damage the Welsh economy by about £150m per year.

The third statement was by First Minister Mark Drakeford who stated in a letter to Boris Johnson: “The Tories’ great train robbery of Wales needs to come to an end… We have 11% of the track, 20% of level crossings and we’ve had 2% of the funding over the last 10 years.”

All I can say is, “Hear, hear” to the last two statements. Anyone with a basic knowledge of geography will know that HS2 is entirely in England and gets nowhere near Wales. The Government, however, has decided that this is an “England and Wales” project, which means that Wales, unlike Scotland and Northern Ireland, is not entitled to any extra funding from the Treasury as a result of this vast project.

Thank God, therefore, for the Western Mail, which did speak for Wales in its editorial “Wales wants HS2 investment justice” and the excellent articles byMartin Shipton and Ruth Mosalski (February 12).

But what a different story it was in the House of Commons and the reaction from our Welsh MPs. A glance at Hansard reveals that nearly all of those who spoke were English MPs. Close on 60 of them spoke and they dominated questions following the PM’s announcement.

The first Welsh MP to speak and complain about the unfair treatment of Wales was Plaid Cymru’s Jonathan Edwards. Not a single one of the 14 Welsh Conservatives thought the HS2 announcement merited any comment and only two of Welsh Labour’s 22 members spoke.

With such an issue as this, which is so manifestly unfair to Wales, why did not more of our MPs speak up? In the recent election I was bombarded by leaflets on behalf of candidates proudly proclaiming themselves “Welsh Labour” and “Welsh Conservative”. Where are they now? I see a bloc of Scottish National Party members who ensure that Scotland’s interests are served, but hardly a peep ever from our “Welsh” members. Shame on them.

HS2 is another kick in the teeth for Wales, something to which we have become so accustomed to that it hardly registers any more. As someone said to me recently, “Wales’ position in the UK nations’ pecking order is somewhere below that of the Isle of Wight”.

This has convinced me that if we are to receive any attention in London it will only be if Welsh voters wake up from their lethargy and elect a bloc of 25-30 Plaid Cymru MPs who will speak up and vote for Wales. Combined with the SNP bloc, it would get us the attention we deserve and certainly more than we currently get.