One person not invited to this morning’s press conference with transport minister Patrick McLoughlin to hear the business case for the high-speed rail link to Birmingham was railway writer and broadcaster Christian Wolmar, who has vehemently opposed the HS2 scheme since it was first announced.
“It’s outrageous for the minister to do the rounds talking to television, radio and the press about this scheme before he has announced it to Parliament,” says Wolmar, author of a new book on the Trans-Siberian railway. “It’s also quite wrong for him to choose which journalists will attend his press conference, barring his critics.
“This kind of thing wouldn’t go on in North Korea. I know I’m persona non grata. The Government is now telling us there will be 14 years of railway chaos if we don’t go for HS2. Why haven’t we heard this before? This is leaked selective information.”
