Lawrie Philpott of Philpott Black and host of Leadership Listening talks with economist and infrastructure specialist David Parish about the HS2 project and the leadership failures behind it.

David recounts how HS2 was conceived from politicians' admiration of high-speed rail in Japan, France, Spain and China, without regard for the UK's very different economic geography. He explains how the Eddington transport strategy was abandoned, how Treasury Green Book appraisal guidance was bypassed, and how HS2 Ltd was set up as a project promotion body rather than an honest evaluator. He and Lawrie explore where leadership accountability should have stopped the project, why no one was held to account, and how the coalition agreement made HS2 politically unstoppable after 2010.

They discuss the £100 billion opportunity cost, the role of external advisors, the over-engineering of the project, and the ongoing saga of Old Oak Common and Euston. David offers advice for future politicians and Whitehall on scrutiny and devolution and shares shocking global evidence from Oxford's Bent Flyvbjerg on major project delivery rates.

00:00 Intro
03:12 Why Build HS2? Learning From Abroad
06:18 The Vanity Project Trap
07:35 The Northern Perspective And Local Money
09:05 The £100 Billion Question
10:12 Opportunity Cost And Connectivity
11:09 Abandoning The Eddington Strategy
13:58 The Green Book And Project Appraisal
16:23 Where Does Leadership Lie?
18:14 HS2 Ltd And Leadership Failure
19:22 What Was In The Politicians' Minds
22:13 The Role Of External Advisors
24:57 The 2011 HS2 Report
26:41 Accountability And Public Sector Disasters
30:49 Sunk Costs And Project Modification
31:32 Over-Engineering And Scope Reduction
33:08 Old Oak Common And The Euston Question
34:10 Advice For Future Politicians
35:48 External Scrutiny For Whitehall
37:39 Project Prognosis And Global Evidence
40:04 Closing Questions
42:31 3 Leadership Principles from the conversation

Podcast episode: 18

Head to https://www.leadershiplistening.com/ to explore more videos and search for key topics

✅ Subscribe Here:  @leadershiplistening
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
🎙️ Listen To The Podcast: PODCAST LINK
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
📱 Follow Us On Socials:

Instagram:    / Instagram: leadershiplistening    
LinkedIn:    / LinkedIn: leadershiplistening  
Bluesky:    / https://bsky.app/profile/leadershipli...  

SUBSCRIBE, SHARE & JOIN US IN TAKING LEADERSHIP TO A BETTER PLACE