So now the election is out the way the Government can deal with all those difficult transport infrastructure decisions which were put on hold – or can it?
Let’s not forget that the Government’s overall majority is 12. It doesn’t take many backbenchers to stage a revolt on a parochial transport issue such as airports or HS2 for that majority to vanish.
Governments don’t like losing votes. It undermines their credibility and it is infectious. After a while revolting backbenchers get a taste for blood. A couple of by-elections in which the Liberal Democrats get back in – don’t discount them, they’re down but not out – and the Government starts to look rocky.
There is a consensus that HS2 is a done deal. It isn’t. There are still several Tory MPs in Buckinghamshire and West London constituencies with furious residents who can influence voting and don’t want HS2. In the old days of pork barrel politics MPs vied to get a new by-pass or rail link built. In leafy Bucks they want the opposite.
Then we have the curious situation of Mayor Boris who now represents a constituency, Uxbridge and South Ruislip, whose local authority, Hillingdon, is not only opposed to HS2 but is already planning for a post-Heathrow scenario in which it can build a new city on the site.
Ah yes, airports. Another big headache for the Government. Heathrow and Gatwick have been making advertising agencies rich through massive publicity campaigns, each opposing the other’s expansion plans. Perhaps the airports commission will u-turn and ignore both to opt for Birmingham as London’s fifth airport. It’s got HS2 next to it after all. Hang on, the HS2 station is nowhere near the centre of Birmingham. We’ll need another link. Now which constituency does that go through?
No wonder we’ve never had a transport strategy. It’s not the expense of all this transport infrastructure that has been the hold-up – it’s backbench MPs.