Further setbacks for HS2

It is reported the HS2 bill will be dropped from the Queen's Speech this week, meaning possible further delays for the project.

It would avoid local tory MP's having to vote against it in another humiliating showdown for the Government. All Conservative MP's along the route in the Meridian region are against the scheme.

The £32 billion High Speed 2 line would create an new link between London and Birmingham through Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire. The move has ripped a division among Conservatives with the vast majority along the route in Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire against it.

Any decision to delay follows the poor showing from the tories in the polls at last weeks elections when Labour made 700 gains. The campaign against the HS2 scheme is led by Conservative leader of Buckinghamshire County Council Martin Tett, with support from Oxfordshire County Council and South Buckinghamshire and Aylesbury Vale District Councils.

Some local Conservatives are so against the scheme they have been withholding funds to Central Office - a rare move that shows the level of opposition. It is claimed the scheme has no economic case and will ruin areas of beauty like The Chilterns.

In the Meridian region the biggest opposition has come from the market town of Wendover where the line would run through. It the goes near Aylesbury, Quainton and then to the north of Bicester and Banbury.

The Government will remain committed to the scheme but the move would allow for more consultation with critics.The Government had claimed the scheme would create 10,000 construction jobs and 40,000 new jobs when the line is extended further north. The scheme has the backing of Labour and the Lib Dems.