A NINE YEAR-OLD-old who told MPs HS2 was ‘stupid’ has become the youngest person to officially appear in Parliament.
Alex Rukin, a pupil at Clinton Primary School in Kenilworth, petitioned the HS2 Hybrid Bill Committee of MPs on Monday (January 12) questioning why the £42.6 billion scheme was being paid for when his school kept having to ask parents to donate money. He then suggested helping HS2 with their maths.
The youngster, who splits his time between living with his dad in Kenilworth and with his mum in Balsall Common, is knowledgeable on the controversial subject as his dad Joe is the Stop HS2 campaign manager.
Alex even starred in a video last year informing people how to petition against HS2 and voicing his concerns about noise levels and traffic services.
If the high speed line goes ahead it would cut through the heart of rural Warwickshire including Cubbington, Southam and Kenilworth.
His petition in Parliament stated: “Your petitioner has been told that the people who worked out that that HS2 would be worth building have said that no-one works on trains to help cheat on their sums. Your petitioner knows this is cheating because he has seen lots of people working on computers on trains and your petitioners parents both say that they work on trains. Your petitioner does not understand why anyone is so stupid as to believe this.
“Your petitioner is worried that HS2 will cost lots more than the people are saying. If HS2 costs more money and not enough people use it, your petitioner, like his classmates, will be the one paying for it in extra tax.
“Your petitioner has been told that saying things which are not true is naughty, so does not understand why the HS2 people say things that are not true and get given lots of money.”
Alex’s dad Joe Rudkin was proud of his son.
He said “As far as we can tell Alex will become the youngest person to have ever appeared in an official capacity before Parliament. This makes sense to me, as apart from the specific instance of Hybrid Bill committees, I can’t think of any case when someone that young would have the opportunity, apart from maybe Edward VI.
“After I explained what petitioning was, he said he thought everyone in the whole country should be doing it, because he thinks HS2 is such a bad idea, and the wrong thing to spend lots of money on. He is committed to doing something about something he thinks is wrong, and I’m really proud about that.”
