The Prime Minister has refused to say whether the HS2 branch between Birmingham, Crewe and Manchester is to be built, after numerous reports suggested that he is poised to scrap Phases 2A and 2B. Mr Sunak remained tight lipped about the fate of the scheme as the Conservative Party conference got under way in Manchester yesterday (Sunday).
Rishi Sunak is under increasing pressure in the north of England, after his former levelling-up minister Dehenna Davison was joined by former Conservative chairman Jake Berry in calling for him to ‘crack on’ with the scheme. Mr Berry added that the Manchester leg ‘really matters’ to people in the region.
Business secretary Kemi Badenoch has also admitted that international investors are concerned, but Mr Sunak said the UK was not a ‘laughing stock’, as the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has alleged.
Mr Khan attended a meeting of Transport for the North last week, when the chair of TfN, former transport secretary Lord McLoughlin, said: ‘Northern leaders spoke with one voice today. We need HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail built in full if we are to realise the full potential of the North and to level up our national economy. Let us not delay.’
The chair of the National Infrastructure Commission Sir John Armitt also told the BBC last week that cancellation would be a ‘tragedy’. He continued: ‘In Birmingham we have already seen the consequences with major investment, 20,000 new jobs predicted and 2,000 new homes predicted. But what we have to do is get a grip on the costs.
‘You look at whether you have done some gold-plating. Railway engineers always want to do the absolute ideal and you have to challenge that and ask whether that is absolutely essential – can we silver-plate this rather than gold-plate it? You might slow it down a bit, that gives you some savings on the alignment.’
Mr Sunak is said to be facing more opposition from other senior Conservatives, including three former Prime Ministers – Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron – as well as former chancellor George Osborne and West Midlands mayor Andy Street.
Meanwhile, levelling up secretary Michael Gove is reported to have promised conference delegates in Manchester that Mr Sunak would say more about HS2 in ‘due course’.