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Govt selling off HS2 land at a loss to prevent future administrations reversing its decision
(www.thelondoneconomic.com)
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this post was submitted on 21 Oct 2023
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UK Politics
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But how does selling it at a loss prevent future governments from compulsory purchasing it back, at that cost?
It just means more has to be spent to do so. It's to sabotage the costs of going back on their decision.
It would be pretty unpopular and therefore unlikely, but there's technically nothing stopping a law being created specifically to buy the land back at the price it's being sold for.
Hell, since we're not in the EU any more, we don't have the laws preventing the government from just taking it for free, but that would be politically suicidal.
Still makes it harder than keeping the land. They could have finished the first leg, then completely replanned/redesigned the second, using the same path.
Oh don't get me wrong, I agree they shouldn't be selling it.
But it's clearly the Tories being fucking children and trying to make it difficult for a successive government to do the job they were unable to do themselves.
It's actively malicious
They will sell it off cheaply. The beneficiaries will then sell it quickly for a profit at the right price. If people start building work on the land, then all this has to be factored into the repurchase price. It will mean court battles for each piece of land where there is dispute over the price. You will need very single piece of land to make the purchase viable. It is not like you skip a housing lot or two and just build a bridge over it.
Because it's doubly expensive. A future government will have to explain why, when they've already lost money, they're spending more on the same thing.
For sure they could do it, but the argument is worse this way.
I wonder if the people they're selling it to have some corrupt business dealings with the people doing the selling. I can imagine this being a way to make a lot of money if you're corrupt. I have no reason to believe the Tories or anything but corrupts so I bet you if you follow the money you'll find somebody who just made a whole bunch