HS2 report a whitewash says one of its authors ‘as cost soars to £103bn’
AN OFFICIAL review of HS2 was last night branded a ‘whitewash’ – by its own co-author.
In a devastating broadside, Lord Berkeley accused officials of covering up damning evidence that costs had hit £103billion, and demanded his name be removed from the final draft of the review.
He savaged the independent inquiry’s ‘lack of balance’ and said it had failed to ‘delve more deeply into the costs of the project’.
The Labour peer, a critic of the high-speed rail link, criticised officials for excluding him from key meetings with ministers and HS2 staff, and described the panel’s conclusions as ‘misleading and dishonest’.
The extraordinary claims were made in a letter from Lord Berkeley to Douglas Oakervee, the former HS2 chief who led the three-month review. It emerged hours after a leaked copy of the review recommended ministers commit to the full network connecting London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
UK Government Transport Secretary Grant Shapps had promised the review would be ‘independent and rigorous’.
But Lord Berkeley told the Daily Mail: ‘The final draft is a whitewash. I do not support it and I have serious problems with its lack of balance. I will be publishing my own alternative review in due course.’
The intervention of Lord Berkeley, who is deputy chairman of the review, plunges HS2 into fresh chaos. His letter suggests ministers were aware of the report’s conclusions as early as last Thursday. Prime Minister
Boris Johnson had hoped its conclusions would be revealed in the New Year.
The report, leaked to The Times, concedes that HS2, Europe’s biggest infrastructure project, is ‘not affordable’ within its current budget of at least £88billion.
It states that the benefit to the taxpayer has dropped from £2.30 for every £1 spent in 2017 to between £1.30 and £1.50 for every £1 spent this year. It also warns that without HS2, passengers will be hit with ‘large ticket prices’ to dissuade them from travelling at peak times.
The independent review was commissioned to assess the
HS2’s benefits and impacts, affordability and efficiency.
But Lord Berkeley claims it excludes key evidence from analysts suggesting the project could cost £103billion – £71billion more than the original budget set in 2011.
He also accused the panel of being biased in favour of HS2, and criticised the report’s ‘lack of balance’, writing: ‘There was also a marked reluctance from officials and/or you to delve more deeply into the costs of the project, with long delays in arranging meetings with HS2, something I asked for in my first week on the review.’
Penny Gaines, chairman of the campaign group Stop HS2, said: ‘It is no surprise that the former chairman of HS2 has come out and said HS2 is a good idea.’
But Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese said: ‘We welcome this apparent acknowledgement that HS2 will boost the North.’
Mr Shapps said last night: ‘The Oakervee HS2 review has yet to be received by the DfT, costed or decided upon.
‘It will be for the next administration to decide whether and how to progress.’
‘Misleading and dishonest’