High-speed 3? These mega-projects are the quack remedies of modern politics | Simon Jenkins

George Osborne's high-speed rail line across the Pennines is a pipedream. He should free northern cities to build their own head of steam

When Jim Hacker in Yes Minister asked Sir Humphrey why the M40 (to Oxford) was completed so long before the M11 (to Cambridge), the reply was simple: "It's been years since Transport had a permanent secretary from Cambridge." Ask why the London to Manchester HS2 is so close to the heart of the chancellor of the exchequer while the trans-Pennine "high-speed...