Aylesbury MP David Lidington calls for HS2 consultation to start again

3:28pm Wednesday 26th September 2012 in News By Andy Carswell

David Lidington has called for the HS2 consultation to start again David Lidington has called for the HS2 consultation to start again

DAVID Lidington has called for a flawed consultation into the HS2 project to be restarted.

The Aylesbury MP said in a letter to the new Secretary of State for Transport Patrick McLoughlin his constituents were "deeply concerned" at the revelation hundreds of responses were not anaylsed due to a technical error.

He said in his letter the news "further undermines" a consultation which many residents felt "was just an exercise that had to be gone through".

Mr Lidington concluded his letter, dated September 20, by writing: "In order to ensure that everybody has full confidence in the consultation process I urge you on behalf of my constituents to consider restarting the consultation process on HS2."

Referring to the fact more than 1,000 responses were not considered in the Department for Transport's analysis, he wrote: "This admission by your Department that not all consultation responses were properly analysed further undermines any remaining confidence that my constituents had in the consultation process."

The Department for Transport said the answers from the missing responses would not have affected their judgement on how to proceed with the controversial project as more than 55,000 others were correctly analysed.

Mr Lidington posted the letters to Mr McLoughlin, who replaced Justine Greening as Transport Secretary earlier this month in a cabinet reshuffle, on his personal blog.

Comments (10)

5:29pm Wed 26 Sep 12

washondo says...

Or, put another way, "What sort of lobbying, could induce that level of incompetence?" The same people will come to the same conclusion, since it would be career suicide to do otherwise.
And they will continue to be paid.
Or, put another way, "What sort of lobbying, could induce that level of incompetence?" The same people will come to the same conclusion, since it would be career suicide to do otherwise. And they will continue to be paid. washondo

10:12pm Wed 26 Sep 12

rich61 says...

Another MP having to play to the nimby gallery. If he has any ambition as a politician, why doesn't he just say to the party leaders, "please get me out of this constituency full of appalling, selfish people who only care about one issue".
Another MP having to play to the nimby gallery. If he has any ambition as a politician, why doesn't he just say to the party leaders, "please get me out of this constituency full of appalling, selfish people who only care about one issue". rich61

9:24am Thu 27 Sep 12

miccles says...

"Mr Lidington concluded his letter, dated September 20, by writing: "In order to ensure that everybody has full confidence in the consultation process I urge you on behalf of my constituents to consider restarting the consultation process on HS2."


Has this bloke forgotten his shady past with his expenses???

Maybe its you that everyone is looking for "full confidence".
"Mr Lidington concluded his letter, dated September 20, by writing: "In order to ensure that everybody has full confidence in the consultation process I urge you on behalf of my constituents to consider restarting the consultation process on HS2." Has this bloke forgotten his shady past with his expenses??? Maybe its you that everyone is looking for "full confidence". miccles

1:11pm Thu 27 Sep 12

padav says...

I wouldn't mind but this "story" isn't even real news anyway - merely regurgitation of a National press article appearing in the Independent. Of course David Lidington is going to make public demands of this nature, jumping on to any bandwagon - he's obliged to do that in order to impress a small target audience within his constituency electorate. Anybody who knows anything about this contentious topic is already aware that the consultation process will form part of the Judicial Review deliberations, scheduled for early December, so this apparent "news" story is simply very public, but utterly irrelevant and meaningless, bandstanding on the part of Mr. Lidington!
I wouldn't mind but this "story" isn't even real news anyway - merely regurgitation of a National press article appearing in the Independent. Of course David Lidington is going to make public demands of this nature, jumping on to any bandwagon - he's obliged to do that in order to impress a small target audience within his constituency electorate. Anybody who knows anything about this contentious topic is already aware that the consultation process will form part of the Judicial Review deliberations, scheduled for early December, so this apparent "news" story is simply very public, but utterly irrelevant and meaningless, bandstanding on the part of Mr. Lidington! padav

1:33pm Thu 27 Sep 12

washondo says...

rich61 wrote:
Another MP having to play to the nimby gallery. If he has any ambition as a politician, why doesn't he just say to the party leaders, "please get me out of this constituency full of appalling, selfish people who only care about one issue".
My aren't you naughty!
~
Name-calling "Nimby" just doesn't cut it any more. The vested interests are finally exposed. (Where is your seat in the lobby?)
~
I believe Mr Lidington to be an elected local representative.
[quote][p][bold]rich61[/bold] wrote: Another MP having to play to the nimby gallery. If he has any ambition as a politician, why doesn't he just say to the party leaders, "please get me out of this constituency full of appalling, selfish people who only care about one issue".[/p][/quote]My aren't you naughty! ~ Name-calling "Nimby" just doesn't cut it any more. The vested interests are finally exposed. (Where is your seat in the lobby?) ~ I believe Mr Lidington to be an elected local representative. washondo

8:43pm Fri 28 Sep 12

Chiltonians says...

Im not sure i can trust someone who finds it perfectly fine to rip off tax payers by over claiming his expenses:

Job: local MP
Salary LAST YEAR: £64,766

Total second home expenses claims
2004-05: £15,992
2005-06: £19,457
2006-07: £17,747
2007-08: £19,470

In May 2006, he got expenses paid for two Boots receipts, totalling £51.09, which included Wellman Vitabiotics, L’Oreal moisturiser, Sensodyne toothpaste and body spray.
Im not sure i can trust someone who finds it perfectly fine to rip off tax payers by over claiming his expenses: Job: local MP Salary LAST YEAR: £64,766 Total second home expenses claims 2004-05: £15,992 2005-06: £19,457 2006-07: £17,747 2007-08: £19,470 In May 2006, he got expenses paid for two Boots receipts, totalling £51.09, which included Wellman Vitabiotics, L’Oreal moisturiser, Sensodyne toothpaste and body spray. Chiltonians

1:05pm Sun 30 Sep 12

Chiltonians says...

What Mr Lidington is clearly after is a large delay in the already robust process in order for the Government o take on board a number of consultation replies that basically the same as all the others.

Im not sure from this MP promotional piece in the paper is Lidington asking HS2 to completely restart the consultation - so lets say another 2 years delay.

Or perhaps he wants another report published that includes the small number of responses that went missing. So lets say 6 months delay.

I guess he is really keen to delay a fair compensation to those who fall next to the route, and have been blighted for several years already, for as long as possible (as perhaps they might vote for him longer). So that would mean going for the complete restart of the consultation and another 2 years.

Its so good to see that you are only thinking of yourself Mr Lidington. Down with you at the next elections - mark my words.
What Mr Lidington is clearly after is a large delay in the already robust process in order for the Government o take on board a number of consultation replies that basically the same as all the others. Im not sure from this MP promotional piece in the paper is Lidington asking HS2 to completely restart the consultation - so lets say another 2 years delay. Or perhaps he wants another report published that includes the small number of responses that went missing. So lets say 6 months delay. I guess he is really keen to delay a fair compensation to those who fall next to the route, and have been blighted for several years already, for as long as possible (as perhaps they might vote for him longer). So that would mean going for the complete restart of the consultation and another 2 years. Its so good to see that you are only thinking of yourself Mr Lidington. Down with you at the next elections - mark my words. Chiltonians

9:37pm Sun 30 Sep 12

The Ducks says...

Chiltonians wrote:
What Mr Lidington is clearly after is a large delay in the already robust process in order for the Government o take on board a number of consultation replies that basically the same as all the others. Im not sure from this MP promotional piece in the paper is Lidington asking HS2 to completely restart the consultation - so lets say another 2 years delay. Or perhaps he wants another report published that includes the small number of responses that went missing. So lets say 6 months delay. I guess he is really keen to delay a fair compensation to those who fall next to the route, and have been blighted for several years already, for as long as possible (as perhaps they might vote for him longer). So that would mean going for the complete restart of the consultation and another 2 years. Its so good to see that you are only thinking of yourself Mr Lidington. Down with you at the next elections - mark my words.
Robust? Surely it was just a pure co-incidence that 4 out of the 5 organisations that are taking out judicial reviws had their responses "misplaced" including a 150 page report from HS2AA?
Plus the only ones delaying the compensation are the HS2 who have still yet to report.
[quote][p][bold]Chiltonians[/bold] wrote: What Mr Lidington is clearly after is a large delay in the already robust process in order for the Government o take on board a number of consultation replies that basically the same as all the others. Im not sure from this MP promotional piece in the paper is Lidington asking HS2 to completely restart the consultation - so lets say another 2 years delay. Or perhaps he wants another report published that includes the small number of responses that went missing. So lets say 6 months delay. I guess he is really keen to delay a fair compensation to those who fall next to the route, and have been blighted for several years already, for as long as possible (as perhaps they might vote for him longer). So that would mean going for the complete restart of the consultation and another 2 years. Its so good to see that you are only thinking of yourself Mr Lidington. Down with you at the next elections - mark my words.[/p][/quote]Robust? Surely it was just a pure co-incidence that 4 out of the 5 organisations that are taking out judicial reviws had their responses "misplaced" including a 150 page report from HS2AA? Plus the only ones delaying the compensation are the HS2 who have still yet to report. The Ducks

11:54pm Tue 2 Oct 12

Chiltonians says...

Yes, does seem very weird that 4 of the 5 seeking judicial review got misplaced.

So they all clearly made the mistake of sending them to the wrong email address at DfT?

I doubt it.

Apparently HS2AA sent one half of their response to the correct HS2 email address than they sent the other half of their response to a DfT email address.

Doesn't this seem a tiny bit weird to you?
Yes, does seem very weird that 4 of the 5 seeking judicial review got misplaced. So they all clearly made the mistake of sending them to the wrong email address at DfT? I doubt it. Apparently HS2AA sent one half of their response to the correct HS2 email address than they sent the other half of their response to a DfT email address. Doesn't this seem a tiny bit weird to you? Chiltonians

11:56pm Tue 2 Oct 12

Chiltonians says...

It would seem that over 55000 other people managed to get the correct email address right - apart from 4 seeking judicial review?

Come on - what planet are you on?
It would seem that over 55000 other people managed to get the correct email address right - apart from 4 seeking judicial review? Come on - what planet are you on? Chiltonians

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