My Priorities for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge: Ensuring HS2 is not revived

I’m proud to have represented Staffordshire for the past fourteen years and it would be an honour to continue being a voice for our region. As the Conservative candidate for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge, here’s where I stand on the issues that matter to you.

Like many of you, I was delighted by Rishi’s decision to scrap HS2 Phase 2a and 2b. Not only did HS2 fail to respond to our country’s infrastructure needs, but it would have torn through Staffordshire’s countryside and communities, causing irreversible damage to our region.

I campaigned hard for the cancellation of this ill-fated project, and I have since sought to ensure there is no way it can be revived. As such, I was deeply concerned to learn of Labour’s support for resurrecting HS2 behind our backs.

First and foremost, we cannot afford for HS2 to return. Like a runaway train, the cost of the project had spiralled to £100 billion, with £24.6 billion to be spent on the northern leg alone. £1 in every £3 spent on transport in our country was being sucked into the HS2 juggernaut. And, to add insult to injury, trains would have terminated 6km away from Euston and would have not reached Manchester until 2041.

The cost-benefit analysis of HS2 already looks dire, and that’s without even mentioning the impact it had on communities across Staffordshire. Local villages bore the brunt of construction noise and congestion. Home and landowners watched on in despair as their properties, farms and businesses were snatched away from them without any compensation provided, leaving them teetering on the brink of financial ruin.

Despite HS2’s cancellation and the lifting of safeguarding measures, many have still not received compensation and others still cannot access their land. I will not stop fighting to ensure those affected receive the answers they deserve and to guarantee all land is returned.  

Moreover, I will continue to lobby the Government to redirect the money that would have been spent on HS2 towards local infrastructure projects within Staffordshire. The result so far? £285 million to be spent on filling potholes, tackling congestion, and improving roads. £3.1 million of funding on buses. The £2 bus cap locked until at least the end of the year.

Unlike HS2, these projects will provide real, tangible benefits to communities across Staffordshire. They will also boost our region’s interconnectivity – helping us become an economic powerhouse in our own right and reducing our dependency on London.

But where does Labour stand on this? Despite Keir Starmer’s mealy-mouthed assurances to the contrary, the shadow Transport Secretary recently told industry bosses of Labour’s hopes to bring back HS2 between Birmingham and Crewe, which would cost around £7 billion. Furthermore, during a debate in the House of Commons in January, the shadow Rail Minister refused to rule out reviving the Birmingham to Crewe HS2 line.

Like on so many other issues, Labour are happy to say one thing and then railroad through another behind our backs. Staffordshire deserves better than this dishonesty: that’s why I will continue to do all I can to ensure that HS2 is not brought back from the dead to wreak further misery on our region.