There is no such thing as a major infrastructure project which hasn’t been controversial.
That doesn’t mean opponents are always wrong, but it does mean that if you are scared of encountering opposition then there’s no point even considering a scheme.
In the case of the planned high speed rail line between London and Birmingham, due eventually to stretch to the north of England and Scotland, Transport Secretary Justine Greening faces a dilemma.
She is up against Conservative MPs who believe the line should either be abandoned or replaced with an inferior scheme.
It doesn’t really matter if trains between London and Birmingham run at 225 mph or 180 mph, as some Tories are suggesting. But the line is supposed to be part of a national network running the length of the United Kingdom, and speed will eventually matter a great deal.
Ms Greening also faces a Labour opposition which has abandoned its commitment to a cross-party consensus on the scheme – something former Labour Transport Secretary Lord Adonis once said was essential – and instead is playing politics and trying to make her life as difficult as possible.
She mustn’t let herself be bullied into making the wrong choice.
