Cutting-edge strategic decisions always bring with them a certain degree of contention, which is why Governments in democratic polities too rarely make
such decisions. They also bring with them opportunity. One thinks of Crossrail. At the beginning, there were doubters, but Crossrail has, without doubt, led to the development of skills of the kind he described, the creation of opportunities, and the seeding of jobs, which have led to us being world beating. The same thing can happen in respect of HS2.