One word.
Tories.
That is all.
The HS2 company was set up under Labour. I watched a bit if the video, interesting content, though I found the presentation pretty insufferable
New Labour*. They dropped the New almost immediately and for a while recently it looked like they might drop it in spirit as well, but apparently not. Their current figurehead is a literal knight of the realm. Not necessarily a conflict of interest, but, well, have you seen him?
Anyway, the purpose of projects like HS2 is to get as much money out of the public purse and into the pockets of politician’s pals as quickly as possible, Labour, Tory or otherwise. If something comes out of it that’s actually useful at the end of it all, well, maybe it’ll garner a few more votes in future? Who cares when you’ve got huge piles of money?
So tell me you don’t understand without saying you don’t understand.
The HS2 act, which effectively set the costs (known, unknown and unknowable) was passed by a Tory government desperate not to upset their financial backers in the Home Counties.
Hello up there on your high horse - I specifically said the HS 2 company.
It’s a public infrastructure project. They often go wildly over budget, because the payoff is generally still worth it.
(Plus, on a lot of projects, the quotes are often ridiculously low, because the companies know govts. will cover “unexpected” costs)