Political principles and democracy

Articles in today's Sunday Telegraph on the subject of HS2, one by Robert Watts and Adam Lusher, the other by Andrew Gilligan, illustrate the lack of political principle and democracy. Both articles are substantially shorter than those in the print edition - which raises a question about censorship on-line, but I digress. As a result some of the points I raise are from the print edition.


On the front page of the newspaper a short 'intro' article by Watts and Gilligan states that documents published last week revealed that 91 per cent of those consulted opposed the scheme. Yet Cheryl Gillan is quoted as stating that she appreciates that there are many people who remain disappointed - but, given there is overwhelming support in the House of Commons across all parties, she believes good progress has been made in improving the protection of the Chilterns. Yet another example of democratised dictatorship!


Justine Greening does not escape condemnation either, because if her views against the third runway at Heathrow are used then her reported statement by Gilligan, one made in 2009, that at every stage the Government has ignored public opinion and shamelessly ignored the grave environmental risk and that the battle to preserve our quality of life is important must also hold true today. But then, in 2009, Justine Greening was just an MP, which lends weight to the argument that attaining high office with all the benefits of position, power and an increased salary, does affect a politician's principles.


Just saying..........




Afterthought: A statement from Greening and link to all the documentation can be found here.