CAMDEN’S Labour group has failed to convince one of its own local MPs to vote against the government’s HS2 scheme. 

Hampstead and Kilburn MP Glenda Jackson told the New Journal that she will back the £50billion project in a crucial House of Commons vote on Monday. She will ignore pleas from Camden Council to oppose the link from Euston to Birmingham and cities further north, which is predicted to have a chaotic effect on the borough over 10 years of demolition and building work. 

Labour, locally, has set out its stall as a leading opponent to HS2 – spending more than £1million on its protest. 

Council leader Sarah Hayward, who has been at the forefront of the campaign, has admitted she is “disappointed” with Ms Jackson’s stance. 

But the MP, who has represented the north of the borough at Parliament since 1992, said: “They have to respect my opinion.” 

Ms Jackson, a former transport minister in Tony Blair’s government, added: “We are seeing the economic gap between the north and the south widening all the time. The great magnet of London is drawing more people into it. The availability of affordable housing is off the scale. Pressure is being put on schools. We could see that money frittered away on small things but it would not have the same impact. That is why I am supporting it. They have to respect my opinion.” 

The Labour-run council has invested £1.3m in opposing the scheme, urging residents – and politicians – to fight it. Ms Jackson, who is standing down at next year’s general election, said: “I will, if I get called to speak, be putting up the concerns of my constituents – overall there is a concern or a holistic view about building the line, then there is the view about the ramifications: the traffic jams, lorries, inappropriate roads. We heard all these arguments when HS1 was going ahead, and they didn’t happen. And anyway, these are issues that will be debated during the passage of the Bill through committee. Also, the proposals around Camden Lock have gone away.” 

Cllr  Hayward said: “If she votes for it, I’ll be disappointed. We have all tried to convince her – Tulip (Siddiq, Labour’s candidate for Ms Jackson’s Hampstead and Kilburn seat), Frank (Dobson) and me. But it is her decision and I respect that. But it is very frustrating.” 

Mr Dobson, Labour MP for Holborn and St Pancras, has vehemently campaigned against HS2 since it was announced in 2009. 

He was among a handful of MPs to rebel against their parties at the last House of Commons vote on HS2 in November. Hundreds are expected to join a demonstration outside the House of Commons as MPs begin a crucial second reading of the HS2 Hybrid Bill. 

Camden opponents of HS2 launched a poster campaign this week spelling out in black and white how the project will damage life in the borough. 

A poster created by by film-maker Jane Gull, who lives in Regent’s Park Estate, said: “HS2 is forcing me out of my home and community. I love Camden – I hate HS2.” Another said: “An extra 100 vehicles per hour will drive below my window – bad for health.” 

Staff at the Bree Louise pub, in Euston, warned: “I’m losing my home AND my business” while an Ampthill Estate tenant’s poster says: “HS2 is a land grab.” A poster saying “let me rest in peace” was left by a tomb in St James’s Gardens, which will be bulldozed and exhumed if the works go ahead. 

Another warned: “Hundreds of trees will be destroyed” and a series from Drummond Street traders say HS2 will “hurt my business” and warn against using their street for “lorry access”. 

A council spokeswoman said: “The scale of disruption to our communities and businesses is unprecedented and we are calling on the MPs with constituencies in Camden to do all they can during the second reading of the Bill to get the best deal possible. Our residents and businesses face having their homes demolished and businesses blighted.”