HS2: Labour mayors join forces to make plea for northern leg to PM

Published

2 years ago

September 27, 2023

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Five Labour mayors have come together to appeal to the prime minister not to scrap the northern leg of HS2, saying such a move would lead to “economic damage” across the regions.

The future of the high-speed rail line has been in doubt over recent days after reports Rishi Sunak and his Chancellor Jeremy Hunt were planning to cancel the line between Birmingham and Manchester due to soaring costs.

But in a joint statement London’s Sadiq Khan, Great Manchester’s Andy Burnham, West Yorkshire’s Tracy Brabin, South Yorkshire’s Oliver Coppard and Liverpool’s Steve Rotheram said that without delivering the project in full, the government would “leave swathes of the North with Victorian transport infrastructure that is unfit for purpose”.

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Mr Sunak did nothing to quell fears on Monday that he was preparing to either cancel or delay the line, and he has told allies he was not prepared to watch the cost continue to rise, according to The Times

The newspaper said he was concerned about a lack of cost controls and high salaries at the company overseeing the project after he was shown figures suggesting the overall price could top £100bn.

Mr Sunak is also said to be considering terminating the line in the west London suburb of Old Oak Common rather than in Euston, in the centre of the capital, to save money.

But the announcement, which had been expected ahead of the Conservative Party conference this weekend, has yet to surface.

In a statement released on Wednesday, the regional mayors said they had been “inundated” by concerns from businesses, and curtailing the line would mean HS2 would “fail to produce any meaningful economic benefit”.

“This government has said repeatedly that it is committed to levelling up in the Midlands and North,” they added.

“Failure to deliver HS2 and [Northern Powerhouse Rail] will leave swathes of the North with Victorian transport infrastructure that is unfit for purpose and cause huge economic damage in London and the South, where construction of the line has already begun.”

HS2 was first touted by Labour in 2009, but it was the coalition government that signed off on the plan, designed to connect the South, the Midlands and the North of England with state-of-the-art infrastructure.

If the Manchester leg is axed it would be the latest watering down of the project, with the eastern leg to Leeds scrapped entirely and work between Birmingham and Crewe delayed due to the impact of inflation.

Some estimates have put the total cost at over £100bn, while the project has been rated “unachievable” by the infrastructure watchdog.

But as they asked for a meeting with Mr Sunak, the mayors said: “The UK does not need a new line that only goes from Birmingham to Old Oak Common, which is six miles from central London. Birmingham does not want this. London does not want this. This does nothing for the North of England.

“The full Y-shaped HS2 plan was designed to deliver economic benefit right across the country not only between the North and London, but between Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham. All of these gains look set to be lost if media reports this week are to be believed.”

They added: “It has been suggested that around £25bn has already been spent on HS2. We agree on the importance of ensuring public money is well spent but it will be an international embarrassment and a national outrage if all this gets us is a line that leads to journeys slower than the current one between Birmingham and London and nothing more.”

But it isn’t just Labour politicians angered by the possible downscaling of the project.

Tory former chancellor George Osborne and ex-Conservative deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine were among grandees warning that scrapping the Manchester route would be a “gross act of vandalism” which would mean “abandoning” the North and Midlands.

And Norman Baker, a former Lib Dem transport minister who signed off HS2 during the coalition government, called for an inquiry into the chaos of the project “to make sure it doesn’t happen again”.

Asked by Sky News on Wednesday whether HS2 would be given the green light to go to Manchester, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said it was “a decision for the chancellor”.

She added: “I’m sure the prime minister and chancellor listen to a wide variety of voices, but as you will know, it is the responsibility of government to keep all projects under consideration.

“And that is what the chancellor is doing, as he has done on all matters which are spending billions of pounds of taxpayer funding, looking at a whole range of projects to make sure they are value for money.”

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A peace deal isn’t a sure thing, Zelenskyy’s UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Published

33 mins ago

December 8, 2025

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A peace deal isn't a sure thing, Zelenskyy's UK visit needs more than a warm welcome

Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.

On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.

French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.

The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.

Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.

But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.

What is the latest in negotiations?

Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.

“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”

But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.

He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.

“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.

“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”

On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.

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Coinbase mounts a cautious comeback in India, two years after exit

Published

59 mins ago

December 8, 2025

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Coinbase mounts a cautious comeback in India, two years after exit

Major US cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase is returning to India after a two-year absence from the market.

Coinbase has resumed app registrations in India as it prepares to roll out local fiat on-ramps in 2026, Coinbase APAC director John O’Loghlen announced at India Blockchain Week (IBW), according to a Sunday report by TechCrunch.

Coinbase’s return to India comes more than two years after it ceased local services in September 2023, following a troubled debut of its local exchange launched in 2022.

“We had millions of customers in India, historically, and we took a very clear stance to off-board those customers entirely from overseas entities, where they were domiciled and regulated. Because we wanted to kind of burn the boats, have a clean slate here,” O’Loghlen said.

Crypto-to-crypto trades available immediately

As Coinbase resumes customer onboarding in India, users can immediately execute crypto-to-crypto trades, according to the report by TechCrunch.

The exchange initially began onboarding users through an early-access program in October, around the time it hired Karan Malik as its India marketing lead.

Coinbase, India, Cryptocurrency Exchange, Policy — *Source: Coinbase India marketing lead Karan Malik*

Malik had previously overseen marketing for last year’s IBW event, where Coinbase served as a platinum sponsor this year.

“Last year, I was leading the charge and building the marketing and brand playbook for IBW. This year, I’m bringing Coinbase to the party,” the exec said.

Coinbase ramps up push in India

Coinbase has been actively working to rebuild its relationship with the Indian government. In early December, Coinbase’s international policy adviser Katie Mitch represented the exchange before India’s Parliamentary Standing Committee on Finance.

“We are optimistic on the potential for forward-looking VDA regulation in India,” she said in an X post last Thursday.

In another development last week, Priyank Kharge, IT minister for Karnataka, signed a memorandum of understanding with Coinbase India to deepen the state’s leadership in blockchain innovation and cybersecurity.

*Source: Karnataka IT minister Priyank Kharge*

Through the collaboration, the Karnataka government will collaborate with the exchange on startup incubation on Coinbase-backed Base protocol and speed up real-world applications of blockchain technology, the minister said.

As previously mentioned, Coinbase secured a license with India’s Financial Intelligence Unit in March 2025, positioning the exchange for a potential launch in the country. In August, Coinbase chief legal officer Paul Grewal also met with Karnataka’s IT minister Kharge to explore collaboration on developer tools, cybersecurity and blockchain in governance.

Cointelegraph approached Coinbase for comment regarding its relaunch in India, but had not received a response by the time of publication.