ISLAND MP Bob Seely has resigned from his role at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) after refusing to back the government's planned HS2 high-speed rail network.

He said there was greater need for investment in existing transport infrastructure.

As a parliamentary private secretary at Defra, his role was to advise ministers on how the project would affect backbench constituencies.

Having previously supported HS2, Mr Seely said: “I reluctantly voted for it the first time and now I have just decided it is in fact a collossal waste of money. I think its a dumb idea.

"I knew abstaining from the vote would mean I could not continue as a PPS but, on the issue of HS2, I did not feel I could vote to support it while having consistently spoken out about the spiralling costs of the project, while in the UK regions and in constituencies such as the Isle of Wight we have suffered from historic under-investment on infrastructure.

“I have lobbied government on the significant challenges we face being an Island.

"But for decades we have been overlooked — our ferry system was privatised without any public service obligations.

"I am still pushing the Government to commit to investing in Island Line."

The HS2 project would create a high-speed rail link from London to Leeds — Mr Seely said spiralling costs meant it was likely to reach £400 million per mile of track.

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