It was great to see so many people come out to the meeting against HS2 this weekend in Perivale.

As a Labour council we have stood, from the start, firmly against what this Conservative-led government is looking to inflict on the people of Northolt, Greenford, Perivale, Ealing & Acton.

In order to send as strong a message as possible we called on all parties to join us in this opposition so that we could speak with one, united voice on behalf of our residents.

Sadly the Lib Dems had little interest in this part of the borough whilst the Tories have sent mixed messages about whether they are with us or against us in this fight.

The decision of this government to ignore local residents' pleas and instead introduce a tunnel in Tory Hillingdon and the Chilterns was a serious slap in the face to everyone whose homes and lives are affected by this decision.

The 51M Group which was meant to lead the opposition against the scheme saw its lead county Bucks come out worse following the consultation than they went in and every other borough and authority that was a member along the route got the same response that we did - no concessions.

We put our case strongly and will continue to do so, reiterating our opposition to this scheme as it currently stands, standing up for local residents.

If anyone wishes to ask who is responsible for the decision not to give Ealing a tunnel then there is only one person on whose shoulders the blame can lie - this Conservative-led government and the minister responsible Justine Greening.

Not so long ago she was knocking on doors in Acton seeking residents' votes. I wonder whether she will show her face there again and look the people who will be impacted by her decision in the eye again?

Cllr Bassam Mahfouz

Labour Councillor for Northolt West End

Ealing Cabinet member for Environment & Transport