Northern leg of HS2 to be scrapped

Even the reports – which have been denied by Number 10 – led to a huge backlash from all sides of the political spectrum, including from former prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May…reports Asian Lite News

The northern leg of the HS2 line is set to be scrapped. Rumours had been circling for weeks that the high-speed rail line between Birmingham and Manchester was going to be axed by the prime minister and chancellor due to soaring costs.

Even the reports – which have been denied by Number 10 – led to a huge backlash from all sides of the political spectrum, including from former Conservative prime ministers Boris Johnson and Theresa May.

A Downing Street spokesperson said: “These reports are incorrect. No final decisions have been taken on Phase 2 of HS2.”

The development, which came moments before Chancellor Jeremy Hunt’s flagship speech, threatens to overshadow Rishi Sunak’s first Tory conference as leader and prime minister as the party faithful gathers in Manchester for the annual event.

The first indications that the leg to Manchester could be scrapped came after The Independent reported that ministers were considering shelving the northern phase because of concerns about spiralling costs and severe delays.

The newspaper said a cost estimate revealed that the government has already spent £2.3bn on stage two of the railway from Birmingham to Manchester, but that ditching the northern phase could save up to £34bn.

The Department of Transport (DfT) has worked up a package of alternative projects – rail, bus and road schemes – which could be funded from money saved by scrapping the Manchester to Birmingham leg of the project.

But Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, accused the government of treating people in the north of England as “second-class citizens” with regards to HS2.

He said, “An east-west line is really important for north of England, as well as north-south. Why is it always that people here are forced to choose? That we can’t have everything, ‘you can have this or you can have that but you can’t have everything’? London never has to choose between a north-south line and an east-west line and good public transport within the city. Why is it that people in the north are always forced to choose, why are we always treated as second-class citizens when it comes to transport?”

One cabinet minister said Sunak was planning to use his conference speech on Wednesday to announce that money saved from the HS2 project would be diverted to “other rail and bus projects”.

One senior rail industry official said: “My sources tell me the PM has made his decision and is unlikely to change his mind.”

Sunak is expected by government officials to commit to a substantial upgrade of the Transpennine route between Leeds and Manchester, along with other local transport schemes that he claims will offer better value for money.

But Sunak’s decision would turn HS2 — once the government’s flagship “levelling up” project — into a shuttle service between Birmingham and London. The line could terminate at Old Oak Common, six miles from central London, rather than Euston, to save more money.

Andrew Gilligan, a Number 10 adviser and HS2 critic, wrote a pamphlet for the Policy Exchange think-tank last November saying that scaling back the project could save £3bn a year by 2027-28 and “perhaps £44bn or more in total”.

One cabinet minister said of HS2: “It’s a monstrosity. We have to cut our losses.” But Tory officials lamented the way in which Sunak had allowed the row over the future of the rail line to dominate the conference.

In a direct message to Sunak, Street acknowledged costs on the project had risen, but warned “gripping this situation” did not mean “giving up, admitting defeat, or even . . . cancelling the future”. In a series of interviews, Street declined to say whether he might resign over HS2.

The debate over HS2’s northern leg had become about “Britain’s ability to do the tough stuff successfully”, he said, and its “credibility as a place to invest”. “That’s what’s now at stake,” he added.

Four former prime ministers have already warned Sunak against scrapping the northern leg of HS2.

Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, a business lobby group, said: “We urge the prime minister to listen to the business community about what this would mean for inward investment, for jobs and the UK’s international reputation.”

Earlier, Hunt warned Conservatives activists in a speech that tax cuts must be funded by a squeeze on public spending, as he prepares to swing the axe on HS2 and the civil service.

Hunt told the conference he would save £1bn by freezing civil service numbers, with an eventual plan to cut 66,000 posts, reducing the public sector workforce to pre-pandemic levels.

The chancellor also wants to reduce the estimated 10,000 people working full time on equality and diversity initiatives in the civil service.

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