Boris Johnson comes under fire from his own MPs over HS2 & Huawei decisions
BORIS Johnson was facing double trouble last night as his MPs waged war over high-speed rail and tech giant Huawei.
The Prime Minister — likely to pave the way for HS2 on Tuesday — is facing post-Brexit unrest from his unhappy backbenchers.
He will attempt to calm the anger this week by accelerating plans to get the country connected with a flurry of road, rail and 5G projects.
But his senior anti-HS2 Tories are poised to pounce when key parts of the project, which could cost up to £106billion, are given the green light in an announcement on Tuesday.
It came as former Cabinet ministers wrote to colleagues expressing grave concerns over the PM’s decision to let Chinese company Huawei work on UK’s 5G network.
Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said there was much disquiet in the party.
He added: “We are turning out to be the mugs in this game.”
Mr Johnson says he is trying to honour promises he made to level up the country by investing more in neglected areas.
He met a group of backbench MPs on both sides of the argument this week to discuss HS2.
Each Tory MP was allowed to speak in turn to relay their concerns about transport investment in their constituency.
One said: “Party chiefs know the feeling among MPs. There is a lot of anger on HS2 among new MPs and the Huawei decision is still reverberating.”
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Another said: “My seat will not gain from HS2 but just cause years of misery. If my constituents don’t shut up about it, then I won’t shut up about it.”
A No 10 source said: “The PM understands the responsibility he has to deliver for everyone who put their trust in the Conservatives in the election.
“That means transforming the transport and infrastructure links in local areas.”
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