John Cooper Clarke & Martin Newell On HS2 | The Quietus

John Cooper Clarke & Martin Newell On HS2

****warning: contains language that some may find a bit blue****

Salford's punk poet and the writer and Cleaner From Venus put forward their views on the new high-speed railway line

Photograph courtesy of Alex Regan

Of the opinion that HS2 is a bracingly expensive waste of time and money but struggling to find the words to vent your frustration? Why not let Dr. John Cooper Clarke and Martin Newell do so for you? They’re the latest interviewees in a series of podcasts for the What’s HS2 to you? website, talking to friend of tQ Roddy Ashworth, pictured in between the pair above.

As the post on the website introducing the podcast says, "[n]either of them drive and they both regularly use railways to travel up and down the country, so you might guess they would be in favour. It turns out they’re not. At all." Alongside the discussion putting forward some pertinent questions as to why it’s happening in the first place, Dr Cooper Clarke also closes things off with a cautionary tale against the pursuit of speed in the form of a new poem, ‘Lines On The Death Of William Huskisson MP, 15th September 1813’. Have a listen at the website here.

Don’t Miss The Quietus Digest

Start each weekend with our free email newsletter.

Help Support The Quietus in 2025

If you’ve read something you love on our site today, please consider becoming a tQ subscriber – our journalism is mostly funded this way. We’ve got some bonus perks waiting for you too.

Subscribe Now