Many years ago, I did a degree module that touched on, among other things, the phenomenon known as cognitive dissonance.

Basically, it’s the psychological stress you suffer when you have the perception of contradictory information.

And that’s how I feel about Tatton MP Esther McVey. I don’t know Ms McVey personally. I’ve never met her and you won’t be surprised to learn I have no desire to ever meet her.

I can only judge her on her public utterances and her voting record in Parliament. I think it’s fair to say that her particular brand of politics doesn’t quite align with mine.

And that’s fine. There are obviously enough voters in Tatton who are happy for her to be their representative and that’s the way our electoral system works.

So you can imagine the icy spike of cognitive dissonance I felt when, not for the first time, I found myself agreeing with Ms McVey in a limited and specific way.

Yes, we both agree HS2 is a terrible idea. And she wants something done about it.

She wants the HS2 Bill brought back before Parliament and voted on in its entirety to see if it still has the support of the Commons.

According to Guardian reporter Barbara Jordan, Ms McVey says it is crucial to review this legislation given how much has changed since the project was first suggested nearly 20 years ago.

Describing the Bill as ‘highly contentious’ particularly for her constituents, she spoke out against it being carried over automatically into the next session of Parliament.

Parliament’s 2021–22 session was brought to a close with a ‘prorogation’ announcement last week and the House of Commons and the House of Lords will next sit for the State Opening of Parliament and the Queen’s Speech on May 10.

Speaking in Parliament, Ms McVey said: “Much has changed since the Bill’s genesis. Rail travel between cities has not returned to pre-Covid levels or even close.

“That indicates even to those who agreed with the project in the first place that this expensive white elephant is no longer needed.

“Secondly, the cost of HS2 had continued to rise at an eye-watering rate and that was before the huge rates of inflation that we are currently seeing, which will put costs up further.

“Those are vital areas of contention where there has been a material change since the Bill started its passage, so it is vital that the House of Commons starts the process of the Bill afresh to see whether the project still commands its support.”

A carry over motion allows a Bill to be extended and carried over into the next Parliamentary session. Most proceed unopposed but Ms McVey spoke out as the High Speed Rail (Crewe to Manchester) Bill was listed.

As I said earlier, I may be suffering from some cognitive dissonance here but the harsh reality is I agree with absolutely every word Ms McVey said.

Sure, I agree with increasing spending on transport, but this vanity project is not the answer. I’m not sure it ever has been the answer and it’s time to deal with the sunk costs, a cost that has already been incurred and that cannot be recovered

In real-world, sensible economic decision making, sunk costs are treated as bygone and are not taken into consideration when deciding whether to continue an investment project.

And that’s exactly what should happen here. Wave goodbye to the money already spent and come up with a plan fit for the 21st century.

If there is one small ray of hope (spoiler alert: there isn’t) Transport Minister Andrew Stephenson said the issues raised by Ms McVey will be debated further when the Bill returns to the Commons for its second reading.

I’m not holding my breath that this Government will make any kind of sensible decision any time soon though.

Let’s just put this in perspective shall we? According to the BBC, the current estimated cost of HS2 is between £72bn and £98bn (at 2019 prices), compared with an original budget of £55.7bn in 2015 (at 2015 prices). But this was made before the decision was taken to cancel the Leeds leg.

So why is HS2 over budget? Management issues and unrealistic land valuations caused costs to spiral. Former executive Doug Thornton previously told BBC Panorama initial estimates for buying property and land were “enormously wrong”.

A 2019 Freedom of Information request revealed that property costs are forecast to reach £5bn, compared to the original £1.1bn estimate.

HS2 also failed to carry out extensive soil surveys, causing problems for digging and excavation, according to the project’s former chairman, Allan Cook.

It is an ill-conceived, vastly expensive project that should be consigned to the history books, and that is something Ms McVey and I can agree on.