should have known better. Having been in government and worked in No 10 as an adviser, I should not have expected a different decision on HS2. But I did. And I can’t hide my disappointment. I know how these things happen. I vividly recall David Cameron’s “No ifs, no buts: no third runway” in opposition, which promptly disappeared when he became prime minister. So why was I expecting a U-turn on HS2? Simply because the economic argument for it was unravelling faster than any bullet train. The human misery and environmental disaster caused by the intransigence of a route prepared for speeds nowhere else achieved in the world, combined with the arrogance and incompetence of those responsible for the project was so obvious. Above all, I felt that more people were waking up – albeit belatedly – to the fact this was indeed a vanity project too far; that they realised the destruction of valuable habitats and ancient woodland was simply unacceptable. It seemed everyone had worked out that the eye-watering and ever-increasing billions of pounds could be spent in so many better ways to relieve capacity issues and regional transport inequalities. I, like many others who have opposed the project since it was first unveiled by the Labour government, dared to dream. Perhaps like Corbyn supporters who, in their own social media bubble, thought election victory was imminent, I believed things were about to change. Had we not realised that we were obsessed, but the rest of the country wasn’t? Actually, most people do cringe at the cost, but the figures are so out of this world they are virtually meaningless. The public can’t see any direct benefit, but some have been taken in by the supposed green credentials of a rail scheme. These credentials are, sadly, myths. It’s bizarre that the Government is planning mind-boggling tree planting schemes while HS2 is destroying swathes of mature trees. And the project’s attitude to planting trees is outlandish in the extreme: rather than watering the saplings, it lets them die as it is more “cost effective” to just replace them. My experience as a constituency MP should have set off alarm bells. Most constituents only raise objections when the building starts, long after the time to speak up, and inevitably too late to achieve anything meaningful. So it has been with HS2. People looked at the route and thought: “It’s not near enough to cause me any problems.” In my former constituency, now represented by the Prime Minister, the majority – with some notable exceptions, including the admirable local authority – thought because the trains were going to speed through a tunnel, there would be minimal disruption to their lives. Wrong, of course, as the road closures, the polluting traffic jams and destruction associated with construction are already affecting those who thought they would remain untouched. The disturbing implications for our drinking water are only now being talked about: HS2 construction has an unquenchable thirst of almost unimaginable proportions, yet no one knows where the supply will come from, and its pile-driving threatens to contaminate the aquifers. The list goes on – the brutal new viaduct over the Colne Valley will bear no resemblance to the artist’s enthusiastic impression of what it could look like. This has all been mis-selling on a massive scale. So is this a battle lost, or is the war over? In my disappointment last week I even seriously contemplated stamping my little foot and leaving the Conservatives – that would surely put the wind up my successor in Uxbridge. But although I might even get a few more followers on Twitter, that’s not the answer, however much it appeals to the drama queen in me. The way forward is to continue to monitor the actions of the company, whose huge failings have been recognised by government. Let’s hope the minister for HS2 can control the monster that has been created. It’s no exaggeration to say lives have been ruined, livelihoods shattered, and irreplaceable natural habitats erased. No compensation will be enough, but it must be forthcoming. Concerns can no longer be brushed aside; the law must be observed. It’s unlikely that I will be alive to use my senior rail card for HS2’s opening journey. I’d like to be proven wrong – that it will be a glorious engineering feat that would make Brunel green with envy. Sadly I doubt it.