A blast of Boris’s fresh thinking is just what Britain needs

BORIS JOHNSON i s clearly ready to take a fresh look at all the Government’s policies, itself a very welcome development. Far too often bad old ideas are pursued simply out of inertia, and good new ideas ignored only because they are unfamiliar and do not have powerful sponsors.

His decision to review the plan for HS2 – a high-speed railway from London to Birmingham and eventually further north – is particularly welcome.

No persuasive case has ever been made for it, beyond a general idea of copying France’s successful network of super-fast TGV trains.

But Britain is far more densely populated than France, its landscape is quite different, and the gains from building high-speed lines are small compared with the enormous cost, not to mention the blighting of many lives by the compulsory purchase and destruction of homes and farms.

Recent major railway projects, such as the Great Western electrification and the London commuter line Crossrail, have faced budget overruns and long delays. It is highly likely that HS2 will also be much later and costlier than first intended. Mr Johnson is believed to be open to spending the money instead on many smaller, l ess ambitious rail projects which would increase the speed, comfort and capacity of links between major cities, especially in the North.

This is both good politics and good sense, especially if any way can be found to undo at least some of the pain already inflicted by forcing people out of beloved homes. Very often, small, sensible, limited and unflashy ideas do more good than big, grand ones.