The Green Party conference is taking place in Manchester from 6th to 8th September. Top of the agenda of policy motions this time is one we at Greens4HS2 have put forward, calling for a clarification of the party’s position on rail investment for the Midlands and the North. HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail are vital to that investment strategy.
We know there’s a real appetite in the Party for our policy on rail to be updated – it hasn’t changed since HS2 was just a twinkle in the government’s eye in 2011, but circumstances in real life have certainly moved on: the London to Birmingham section is well under construction; the Tories have stupidly cancelled the best bits of HS2 so we’ve ended up with the worst of all worlds; we now have a Labour government that is being far too timid to bring about the radical changes the country needs; and we have a new cadre of 4 Green MPs to keep reminding them of that.
Those MPs need a consistent policy framework to back up that pressure. Our motion E01 seeks to give them that when it comes to rail, so they can speak with a strong voice in favour of the investment in a low-carbon low-car future we need.
Find out more about our motion and why we support HS2: