Rishi Sunak has confirmed the long-rumoured decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2.
Reports the planned high speed rail line would end in Birmingham – rather than continuing up to Manchester – have been circling for weeks, with sources telling Sky News on Monday the decision had been made.
But the prime minister has spent days dodging the question, only making the announcement as he gave the closing speech to this year’s Conservative Party conference – and promising to spend the cash on hundreds of other transport schemes across the country instead.
The line will still go to Euston, however, despite suggestions it could end in the west London suburb of Old Oak Common, rather than in the centre of the capital.
Read more: Live updates from the Tory Party conference – politics latest
Speaking from a former train station in Manchester, where the annual event is being held, Mr Sunak told members getting infrastructure right was key to driving growth, but a “false consensus” had emerged, with projects “driven by cities at the exclusion of everywhere else”.
He said HS2 was “the ultimate example of the old consensus”, saying the cost had doubled and the “economic case” for the line had “massively weakened with the changes to business travel post COVID”.
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The prime minister added: “I say, to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed. And the right thing to do when the facts change, is to have the courage to change direction.
“So I am ending this long running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project.”
Mr Sunak said scrapping phase two to Manchester would free up £36m, and “every single penny” would be spent on “hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, and across the country”.
But the government’s new “focus” would be on a project called Network North, which would “join up our great towns and cities in the North and the Midlands”.
The fully electrified line would see trains from Manchester to Hull in 84 mins, to Sheffield in 42 minutes and Bradford in 30 minutes.
“No government has ever developed a more ambitious scheme for northern transport than our new Network North,” the prime minister added.
“This is the right way to drive growth and spread opportunity across our country. To level up.”
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Listing other transport pledges, Mr Sunak said he would “protect” the £12bn project to link Manchester and Liverpool, build a Midlands Rail Hub to connect 50 stations and build a tram in Leeds – as well as upgrading the A1, A2, A5 and the M6.
He also promised to keep the £2 bus fare in place.
“I challenge anyone to tell me with a straight face that all of that isn’t what the north really needs,” he said.
“Our plan will drive far more growth and opportunity here in the north than a faster train to London ever would.”
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Mr Sunak accepted he would face criticism for the decision – having already been slammed by Tory grandees, regional politicians and businesses.
“They will say that halting it signals a lack of ambition,” he told the audience. “There will be people I respect, people in our own party, who will oppose it.
“But there is nothing ambitious about simply pouring more and more money into the wrong project. There is nothing long-term about ignoring your real infrastructure needs so you can spend an ever-larger amount on one grand project.”
“For too long, people in Westminster have invested in the transport they want, not the transport the rest of the country, particularly the North and Midlands, wants and needs.”
Addressing one critic in particular – the Tory mayor in the West Midlands, Andy Street – saying he was a man he had “huge admiration and respect for”, Mr Sunak added: “I know we have different views on HS2.
“But I know we can work together to ensure a faster, stronger spine: quicker trains and more capacity between Birmingham and Manchester.”
