Chiltern Liberal Democrats

What Cheryl Gillan has told some of her constituents, but maybe should have said to all of us

The MP for Chesham & Amersham and Secretary of State for Wales, the Rt Hon Cheryl Gillan MP, has sent the following letter to members of the local Conservative Party. Her letter was dated 19th January 2012.

Here it is, verbatim.

I think, with the latest announcement on HS2 and recent events, that, as a member of the Association you deserve to hear about HS2 and my response first hand.

HS2

Ever since the proposal was announced by the Labour Secretary of State for Transport (Lord Adonis), HS2 has rightly taken up a huge amount of my time and effort. Very shortly after that announcement I met Lord Adonis to protest about the project and the damage this would cause to the constituency and the environment of the AONB. He took the view that he had decided that this project would go ahead and that was that.

After the Election we formed a Government with the Liberal Democrats, so I took up the case with the new Transport Secretary and he decided to put the HS2 proposals out to public consultation on the basis of the Labour proposal. In my office we did our own research, having meetings with HS2 staff and engineers, independent people who had alternative views about the route and others, such as the British Geological Survey, Natural England, Friends of the Earth, the Environment Agency etc all of whom had views on the project. The advice on the aquifers has eventually and thankfully resulted in changes to the route near Old Amersham. I also consulted our councils who prepared their own representations, and many other bodies (eg the Chiltern Society, HS2 Action Alliance, Parish Councils etc.) who similarly were opposed to the proposal. I spoke at public meetings responded to vast levels of emails, phone calls and letters and made my views clear to colleagues.

After marshalling the information, I submitted a fully comprehensive response dealing not only with the environmental impact but also the business case and alternative options etc, and points which had been made to me or by me - this submission is available on my website www.cherylgillan.co.uk.

My opposition throughout has been steadfast and widely recognised as such. I have never supported the route through my constituency and believe that there could still be changes to that route so that, if built, the line would have a lesser impact on the Chilterns and the AONB. I have written to the Transport Secretary stressing this point.

Nevertheless, some constituents began to argue that I should resign and return to the backbenches so that I would be free to argue more publically about the proposals. I decided not to do this, after consulting my Association Chairman and others, because within government I have access to colleagues in a different way.

Despite all the efforts of people and groups, who have mounted opposition to HS2, the Government has now endorsed the proposals - as have a clear majority of Members of Parliament from all parties, Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative.

This does not mean, however, that there is nothing further to do. There will now follow more detailed engineering work and an environmental impact study, where we will have chances to suggest proposals to mitigate the damage to the environment. I have already held one engineering meeting and have more planned including with the HS2 Chief Engineer. I will continue to make representations of people's opposition to HS2, but I see it as my duty, should the project proceed, to work to secure the best mitigation, route refinements and compensation possible so that HS2 would impact as little as possible on our area and peoples' lives.

I will also be discussing with the Department of Transport and other MPs along the route, the compensation packages for those affected by the scheme, which has already become a painful problem for some. I remain open to any suggestions on all these aspects and any other matters including construction issues.

This will be a long process. The environmental consultation will not commence until spring 2013 after a year of exploration of the environmental impact. I am already working on all these aspects to see what change we can achieve in the best interests of constituents.

Sale of House

Soon after I was elected in 1992 we bought a cottage in Whielden Street, which as the years have passed has become less suitable for our purposes, notably the increasing difficulty Jack has had with climbing staircases. I put it on the market in June 2010 and this decision had nothing to do with HS2. The cottage did not sell until July 20911 and was completed in November at a time set by the purchases.

Just to reassure you, I continue to have a full diary of constituency engagements which have not lessened at any stage and certainly not since our difficulties in using the cottage or its sale.

Finally, I understand you may not agree with the decisions of Government but I will continue working as I have done for 20 years in the interests of Chesham and Amersham. I have always appreciated the privilege of representing you in Parliament and your support. The Chilterns form a precious part of our countryside, and I will do all I can, given the situation, to protect them.

Yours sincerely

Cheryl Gillan MP

Liberal Democrat comment:

Poor Ms Gillan, she just doesn't get it. It's not about the route - it's about stopping the wretched thing altogether. Nobody outside the Chilterns cares that much about "the route", they just think we're moaning as it's going through our back yard. The key to opposing HS2 is that as a country we will put in £76 billion and after 60 years we've got £27 billion back. That's what we mean by 'a flawed business case'.

Note how she mentions the Liberal Democrats twice - watch over the next few months as the Tory spin machine somehow makes out this is all our fault.

The line "...some constituents began to argue that I should resign..." is just astonishing. The reason that some people expected Ms Gillan to resign is because she said that she would. Oh dear!

For the record, local Liberal Democrats have not called for Ms Gillan's resignation (pointless and too late). We have stated that we expect her to stand down before the 2015 general election, and we have called upon the local Conservative Association to select a new anti-HS2 prospective parliamentary candidate immediately.

However, if the sum total of "within government I have access to colleagues in a different way" is "I have written to the Transport Secretary" one has to wonder how much less a back-bencher could do.

Similarly we make no comment on the house sale (but have included that text as it was part of her letter). As is well known, the family home is in Epsom.

Enough already.