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Original poster

HS2 still going ahead

31 replies

littleeasterbonnet · 15/04/2020 14:01

Genuinely can't believe that they haven't cancelled this. It's costing billions and they've given it the green light again today, despite everything.

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Waxonwaxoff0 · 15/04/2020 14:04

Absolutely ridiculous. How many people will be using it anyway after this pandemic? Working from home will become more common and loads of us will lose our jobs anyway.

Original poster
littleeasterbonnet · 15/04/2020 14:07

Not to mention the cost to the environment.

It sickens me that they still think that we should spend so much money on something like this when there are so many far more pressing reasons to spend it on other things right now.

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purpleme12 · 15/04/2020 14:08

Always thought the money could have gone to something better but even more now

VideographybyLouBloom · 15/04/2020 14:10

Fucking unbelievable. This would have been the quickest and easiest way to save some of the money the country will so desperately need in the coming months.

onalongsabbatical · 15/04/2020 14:11

It's depressing that they continue to think it has any validity. It was a colossal mistake before, it's unbelievable they'd press ahead with it now.

hamstersarse · 15/04/2020 14:13

Good!

Have you considered the further consequences to an already decimated economy if they cancelled it?

Wannabangbang · 15/04/2020 14:14

Just ridiculous, a waste of effort and money when we don't even know what the future holds. I'm gobsmacked!!

PerplexingWords · 15/04/2020 14:15

This is one of the reasons I think that despite all my optimism and hope for a changed future, I am going to be disappointed. It makes me sick.

KonTikki · 15/04/2020 14:26

HS2 was always a bad idea, but
To cancel it at this stage will cost the government billions in broken contracts and endless litigation through the courts.
Also it will provide long spells of industrial sized engineering work for thousands once the country is trying to get back on its feet.

I would rather see the money go to other projects, but we're past the tipping point where in a financial sense it's best to keep going.

One way out of a really bad recession is large scale government funded projects. It's how Roosevelt got America back on its feet after the Depression of the 30's.

There are simply no easy answers now.

PanicOnTheStreets85 · 15/04/2020 14:32

Absolutely ridiculous. How many people will be using it anyway after this pandemic? Working from home will become more common and loads of us will lose our jobs anyway.

It won't be finished until 2040 though, so I would hope that the economy might have recovered a bit by then!

Racoonworld · 15/04/2020 14:34

We need things like this to keep the economy going. It provides thousands of jobs both in design and construction, it will be good for many people

Waxonwaxoff0 · 15/04/2020 14:35

Panic yes, fair point Grin I have a vested interest in HS2 as the proposed line will be about 100m away from my house.

puds11 · 15/04/2020 14:38

They were never going to cancel it at this stage though. It’s a fucking shambles of a project!

EL8888 · 15/04/2020 14:40

I never saw the point of it to start off with and definitely not now. The only angle l can think of is it’s money being spent in this country and may stimulate the economy a little?

Original poster
littleeasterbonnet · 15/04/2020 16:33

Have you considered the further consequences to an already decimated economy if they cancelled it?

Yes, I have (and you don't understand what the word 'decimate' means). Stuff the economy - not everything can be measured in £££.

Have you considered the further consequences to the environment, the countryside, farmers livelihoods, nature reserves, wildlife, and the permanent loss of historic buildings, ancient trees and sites of special scientific interest if this continues?

It makes me feel sick just thinking about it.

Bastards.

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YeahWhatevver · 15/04/2020 16:47

YES!

My company is working on it and we were looking a little shaky (along with lots of companies/employees) if it were to be cancelled.

Hundreds of thousands of jobs secure off the back of this.

Seriouslyastounded · 15/04/2020 16:55

Of course it went ahead. It would cost a whole lot more to cancel it

Original poster
littleeasterbonnet · 15/04/2020 17:22

Several million other jobs look a bit shaky at the moment. I'd rather the money went where it would far better be spent. On healthcare and research, supporting families who have lost their jobs, getting small businesses back on their feet, bereavement counselling, education, and increasing the national minimum wage so all those low-paid workers who are currently keeping the nation going can finally be paid what they are worth.

Tens of millions of trees are looking a little shaky now too. And their hundreds of millions of occupants.

Have fun, YeahWhatevver while you and your colleagues butcher some 800 year-old irreplaceble oaks. And enjoy knowing that all those billions of pounds could have been used not to feather corporate fat-cat nests, but to help this country get out of the mess it is in right now.

Of course it went ahead. It would cost a whole lot more to cancel it Ever heard of the sunk cost fallacy?

What kind of fuckwit signs a contract like that anyway? Oh yeah, that's right, the people who stand to make the most money out of it.

Fuck HS2 and all who sail in her.

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dudsville · 15/04/2020 17:49

What's hs2?

DdraigGoch · 15/04/2020 18:23

Excellent, secures plenty of jobs in construction and provides a nice stimulus to help the economy get back on its feet. Should also cut into the short-haul air market and take cars and lorries off the road so will help the UK meet its carbon targets.

I look forward to travelling on Phase 1 when it opens around 2030. It's about time the UK brought its infrastructure into the 21st Century.

ChazsBrilliantAttitude · 15/04/2020 18:24

Big infrastructure projects are job creation schemes. For every main contractor there is a web of smaller sub contractors and suppliers. The Government is spending money to keep people working and paying tax.

Also cancelling it now would be a public statement that we won’t bounce back and the economy is fucked.

Nquartz · 15/04/2020 18:38

I'm so disappointed, it is due to go through a local beauty spot but will serve no purpose whatsoever to our community, I was hoping it was going to be axed.

What a waste of money Angry

KittyVonCatsworth · 15/04/2020 18:39

It's a UK critical to national infrastructure project as far as I'm aware. Like some have said to pull out at this stage would have a massive socioeconomic and financial consequences.

EggysMom · 15/04/2020 18:41

Why get upset now? It's secured future was announced a few weeks ago, today was just rubber-stamping the contract.

Original poster
littleeasterbonnet · 15/04/2020 23:51

Why get upset now? I've been campaigning against it for years.

I belong to a local wildlife trust that has seen nationally important wildlife habitats bulldozed and destroyed for ever.

I'd been hoping against hope that finally, the government would see sense, and realise that right now, there are more important things to spend taxpayers' money on than getting from A to B 20 minutes quicker.

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