Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron at Downing street in London, Thursday, Jan. 12, 2011. Scottish Parliament are having a debate on the future of the country, they are discussing the independence referendum. AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
LONDON—British Prime Minister David Cameron faced embarrassment Thursday after his father-in-law blasted the government’s decision to approve a new high-speed rail line.
Viscount William Astor, stepfather of Cameron’s wife Samantha, said the new £32.7 billion (39.4 billion euros, $50.2 billion) HS2 line from London to Birmingham in central England risked “ruining the lives of thousands”.
In an article for The Spectator magazine, he said the plan was backed largely by “northern (opposition) Labor MPs who relish the thought of the beauty of the Chilterns being destroyed”.
More than 70 protest groups of residents have been created in the picturesque area of the Chilterns — which the line will pass through — to oppose the scheme.
Astor argued that the scheme had been made redundant by modern communications, which avoided the need for businesspeople to travel to meetings.
“There is a perfectly viable alternative, which… would be much cheaper and faster to take effect, without destroying a whole swath of countryside, ruining the lives of thousands,” he wrote.
“Have they not heard of Skype and the Internet?”
He called on Transport Minister Justine Greening to “compare HS2 with cheaper options and look at how those savings could be spent on other transport needs”.
In response to fierce opposition from campaigners and some members of Cameron’s Conservative party, the government has ensured that an increased number of tunnels are used to minimize the impact of the line on the landscape.
The scheme will, by 2026, see trains capable of holding 1,100 passengers get from London to Birmingham in just 45 minutes, slashing the previous journey time by half.
A second phase extending the line to Manchester and Leeds in northern England is planned to be built by 2033.