In 2015, David Cameron’s government decided to define HS2 as an “England and Wales project”. In technical jargon this means they applied a 0% comparability factor for Wales to HS2 spending. That may seem hard to decipher, but what you need to know is this: though it sounds fairly innocuous, designating HS2 an “England and Wales project” was utterly devastating to Wales because it meant that Cymru did not receive any consequential funding from the project.
The complaint is that Wales did not receive any money from the building of a railway that does not go through or to Wales.
That really has put the kibosh on that old certainty that the Welsh moan about everything, hasn’t it?
I agree that Welsh politicians whinge at every opportunity. They have that in common with Scottish and Irish politicians. It’s unfair to burden all the Welsh (etc) with a label that it deserved by an unrepresentative minority.
Will Hayward is Welsh affairs editor at WalesOnline. His book, Independent Nation: Should Wales Leave the UK?, is available from 30 August 2022
Stop, come back. Noooooooo
One assumes that it was designated an ‘England and Wales Project’ because there isn’t a category of an ‘England only project’, England as a stand alone entity being studious denied as even existing by the UK State.
Picts and Celts, eh?
As a consequence of the Scottish Enlightenment and the efforts of the Scottish Diaspora following the Highland Clearances the Scottish influence on the building of the modern world was far out of proportion to their numbers, for which we should be eternally grateful, even if they seem currently to have lost their mojo for the time being.
As far as I can tell the Welsh didn’t, despite being a very similar people in many ways. Why is this?
It isn’t worth it. Most of the population/trade is border areas or along the M4. And there isn’t any capacity issue on London to Cardiff. Not even half full at peak .
I like the southern part of Wales. I have a fondness for Swansea. Nice beach, good seafood and good people. They aren’t swivel eyed loons like the north. Wales is really like 2 countries.
Welsh biologists (i.e. farmers) have been trying for centuries to create a sheep-human hybrid, but have only been successful in making Welsh people sheep-like in voting Labour, even though Labour keeps them in relative poverty …
“The complaint is that Wales did not receive any money from the building of a railway that does not go through or to Wales.”
The Scots did. Because Westminster funds English or English/Welsh infrastructure directly, the Scots and Northern Irish get matching money from central funds to squander in their own way. Probably not on a railway but it just might go to roadbuilding or maintenance. The Provinces need infrastructure too.
Since HS2 is entirely English and for the benefit of the English the Welsh probably expected matching money for Welsh benefit too. But hey, Birmingham is only 50 miles from the Welsh border. Near enough.
That’s because South Walians are not, in fact, Welsh. A vast influx of West Country, Black Country and Irish into the place as the mines and steel were built out.
It’s a fair point, though whether the English actually benefit from HS2 is another matter.
Meanwhile, there are parts of England further from HS2 than Wales is, and just as unlikely to benefit, even from the “jobs” created.
Maybe the government shouldn’t have started HS2 in the first place?
Surely, as a country, Wales doesn’t really exist. Before the Normans took over, I believe the only period Wales was united under one rule was 7 years in the C10th. Up until the joke Welsh Assembly was created, Wales has always been administered as part of England & Wales. Even in Saxon times, the Welsh princes were tributaries of Saxon kings.
The Welsh contribution to HS2 was going to be mutton from ugly sheep.
Jack C,
“Meanwhile, there are parts of England further from HS2 than Wales is, and just as unlikely to benefit, even from the “jobs” created.”
Almost no-one is going to benefit from HS2. If you’re even a short distance from Birmingham, by the time you piss about getting to the new station, either car or an existing train will be faster.
That even assumes it adds to trade. Which I find doubtful. What’s going to be the extra trade created because of a train line that’s 48 instead of 84 minutes? You’re a business in Birmingham, you’re going to do a monthly meeting in London either way.
But HS2 will bring “incalculable” benefits for anyone who needs to reach London via Brum – which includes the whole of Mid- and North-Wales.
With the rise of Welsh-speaking schools there won’t be any point in even crossing the border into England as you won’t be able to speak to the locals or understand what they say – Urdu isn’t taught in most Welsh schools (yet).
But surely what they were saying is that the the decision to make the railway classified as a England and Wales railway. Was that it would be counted as official spending on Wales, even though there was none spent in Wales. So the stats would pretend there was more money being spent on Wales than it really was.
So the official stats would pretend Wales was getting more money than it really was.
For example imagine if you were told you that you and your fellow employee would be given the same wage. Then 10 percent of your wage was given to to other guy, but it was counted on official stats as being paid to you. You would be F*ing livid.
The government was showing itself to be anti-Welsh. No wonder Wales hates the Tories.