HS2, Climate, and the 'Lawn Guyland' Question

Nicola Biggerstaff

This week, the government announced the scrapping of the Manchester to Birmingham leg of the high speed railway (HS2), citing increasing costs. There is no doubt there will be consequences in terms of wasted time and resources, as well as long-term repercussions on local economies in the north of England and Scotland. However, the long-term environmental consequences should also be considered but have received little coverage.

With a national government which is becoming increasingly hostile towards environmental measures, including investment in effective public transport infrastructure, it is time to look at the bigger picture: just how far-reaching are the consequences of an ineffective transport system?

The inception of HS2 feels so long ago it’s almost a blur in my own memory. Back in 2009, it was touted as the future of public transport: hundreds of miles of high speed rail linking London with Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds and Crewe, to relieve pressure on the main arterial rail lines running up and down the country, generating greater capacity for greener, faster travel and freight logistics across the four nations.

The latest scrapped phase of the network is the culmination of weeks’ worth of noise in the media, just the latest round of political chicken which has cost the government an estimated £180 billion. The Prime Minister has however pledged to reinvest some of the £36 billion now saved in improving our roads, mostly in the north of England and the Midlands, but we will see some funding here in Scotland also.

This would fall in nicely with his previous announcement just before the Conservative party conference, a long-term strategy to tackle the so-called ‘war on motorists’, including a ban on the introduction of new 20mph zones and low traffic neighbourhoods. Since those really are the priority of the average person just trying to get by in this country right now.

They don’t seem to realise that this ‘war on motorists’, if it even existed, was entirely their own making. Just the latest in the long line of continuing death knells of a dying government: they are running out of people or groups to constructively criticise, so now they’re making them up. Motorists do not feel attacked by green measures in the way the government thinks they do, or wants them to.

They have had over a decade to fix the problems with our nation’s infrastructure and have actively chosen to make things worse. It is a vacuum of their own making, and they don’t even realise it. Or they do, and they just don’t care, looking to find someone else to blame for their oversight other than themselves. It’s the fault of the woke lefty green agenda, not the ones who have been in power for the last thirteen years and were more than capable of making changes if they wanted to.

I would love nothing more than to scrap my car completely and go all-in, increasing my contribution to the green effort. But in this country, without a reliable public transport network, a cornerstone to future green policy, to back up the measures, it is just impossible.

Their willingness to plan in the long-term to ‘defend’ motorists, but not for the impending climate emergency, is jarring, and speaks volumes about their priorities. It is not to preserve the country, but the current economy. It is not to save the planet, but to win the next election.

We need to rethink what it means to be a ‘climate denier’ nowadays. Climate change is happening, and thankfully the vast majority of people do acknowledge this in some way. However, the problem lies with those who claim the effects are exaggerated, who think those who glue themselves to buildings or disrupt national, televised events out of sheer desperation are simply unemployed, attention-seeking left-wing plants. Those who will happily ignore or backtrack on climate policy for now to save a few thousand votes. Those who think we still have time, that it won’t affect them, their children, or their grandchildren. It is happening now, and we must act now.

The proposed expansion of the ULEZ was a controversial issue which dominated the Uxbridge and South Ruislip by-election back in July. This is due to how it would affect many lower income residents of the commuter towns in the area: those who work in London but, due to soaring costs and the inefficiency of public transport services outside the metropolitan area, have no choice but to continue using their cars and simply factor in the additional costs from fines.

Commuter areas are becoming increasingly, disproportionately, affected by ill-conceived, poorly planned climate proposals, despite being the ones most likely to face the brunt of the consequences of a future climate breakdown, and we only need to look across the pond to see the future that awaits us if our governments do not act now.

Just last week, a storm in New York City caused catastrophic flash flooding which broke all local records, with some areas of lower Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens receiving several months’ worth of rainfall in just a few hours, bringing the city and neighbouring Long Island to a standstill. Thankfully, there have been no reports of deaths or serious injuries, but dozens of people did have to be rescued from their cars and flooded homes.

Still reeling from the effects of smoke from Canada's wildfires just a few months ago, scientists are now certain that the storm which caused the flooding was aggravated by climate change, with warmer air coming in from the Atlantic increasing moisture levels to between 10 and 20% above average for this time of year.

The suburb of Long Island is the most densely populated island in the United States, with just under eight million residents crammed into just over three and a half thousand square kilometres of land. A popular commuter area for those working in NYC, it has been planned with the driver in mind, with nineteen major motorways running the length and breadth of the area. While reliable public transportation does exist in the form of the Long Island Railroad (LIRR), it is often faster and more affordable for residents to drive.

A driver-heavy, densely populated area, which has been affected by climate-aggravated adverse weather, will bear an unfair burden in the years to come as adverse weather events and subsequent disruptions like this only increase in frequency and severity. It is only a matter of time before we witness events like these in the UK, too.

At the end of the day, it won’t be the rich, the prime minister with multiple homes who can take his private jet across the country at will, who will be most affected by climate breakdown. It will be us; the people, the commuters, those of us who have more in common with the average Long Islander than our own government.

So, what can we do? Leaving the car at home is something we’ve been advised to do from the start, but without the reliable infrastructure to support us doing so, it is simply not feasible. We must continue to pressure local and national government to provide affordable, efficient, and greener public transport infrastructure.

Last week, Common Weal joined forces with organisations across Glasgow and Strathclyde to support the launch of Get Glasgow Moving’s Better Buses for Strathclyde campaign. Inspired by the success of their counterparts in Manchester, they aim to bring the bus network in Glasgow and the surrounding area back into public ownership, for a service which is more accountable, more affordable, and better for the planet. We are proud to be a part of this and encourage our supporters to join us. You can find out more about getting involved here.