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Heathrow

In using that statistic, we have always made it clear that it related to a full, national network, which we want to see built. At least we are making a start—[Interruption.] The Secretary of State tells the House, ““I’m a big fan of high-speed rail””, but he refuses to match the commitment that we have made to building high-speed rail. [Interruption.] It is all very well for him to talk about dodgy figures—he is the one who believes in fantasy green planes. The business case for the new rail link we propose is very strong. There is an industry consensus that the west coast main line will be full to bursting within a decade, necessitating the construction of a new line anyway. There is a huge opportunity to seize the chance to address three problems—the north-south economic divide, chronic rail overcrowding and Heathrow—with a single scheme.