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HS2 to Manchester axed in favour of ‘Network North’ – as former PM Cameron calls decision ‘wrong’
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.
Read more: HS2 axe branded betrayal of the north – politics latest
Mr Sunak defended the move by promising to spend the billions of cash savings on hundreds of other transport schemes across the country instead.
They will include:
• The ‘Network North’ project to join up northern cities by rail
• A ‘Midlands Rail Hub’ to connect 50 stations
• Keeping the £2 bus fare cap across the country
But a number of the projects appear to have been announced before and critics have suggested Mr Sunak is reviving schemes he was responsible for cancelling.
HS2 will still go to Euston despite suggestions it could end in the west London suburb of Old Oak Common, rather than in the centre of the capital.
Speaking from a former railway station in Manchester, where the Tories’ annual event was held this year, 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”.
‘I am ending this long running saga’
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”.
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 £36bn, 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 make the journey from Manchester to Hull in 84 minutes, 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.”
Sunak has rolled the dice
Rishi Sunak’s speech was packed with policy – on banning smoking, replacing A-levels with a new qualification – though not for quite a few years – and of course the long awaited axing of HS2 to fund regional transport upgrades.
There were also some indications of campaign attacks on Labour – in particular with his references to trans issues, and Sir Keir Starmer’s previous positions on Brexit.
A year out from an election, these are long term plans that may never happen, if voters don’t want to keep the Conservatives in the short term.
But Sunak has rolled the dice on the idea his party can regenerate for the future.
Listing other transport pledges, Mr Sunak said he would “protect” the £12bn project to link Manchester and Liverpool, build a tram in Leeds and upgrade the A1, A2, A5 and the M6.
He also promised to extend the West Midlands Metro, electrify the North Wales main line and 70 further road schemes.
“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.”
The plans immediately drew criticism from regional mayors, including Andy Burnham in Greater Manchester, who said the HS2 announcement was “no way to treat our city when they are in our city”.
He said the government had not announced a “coherent plan” but a “transport plan patched together in hotel rooms at a party conference with no input with northern leaders or mayors”.
Mr Burnham went on to say the current plan would not solve the problem of bottlenecks and lack of capacity on the railway network in the north, which covers from Liverpool in the west to Hull in the east.
He also accused the government of failing to turn its transport pledges into reality and suggested that previous statements had been made “with political intentions in mind to try and win votes here”.
“It’s starting look very much like that’s what it was all about – and what has been announced today feels more of the same,” he added.
His concerns were echoed by Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh, who said the north and Midlands had been “left to pay the price” for this “staggering Tory fiasco”.
“Only after 13 years of dismal failure could the Conservatives make the centrepiece of their conference a re-announcement of promises the Conservatives have made before,” she said.
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Read more:
Analysis: Sunak’s woes are a conference sideshow
HS2 explained – what is the route and why has leg been axed?
West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin called the decision “yet another betrayal of the North which will punish passengers and businesses alike”.
The head of research and policy at the GMB union, Laurence Turner, also said the scrapping of the northern HS2 leg would “send a shockwave through the construction industry and railway supply chain, costing hundreds of jobs”.
He added: “The UK’s political instability was already holding the economy back – it will now be even harder to fund and deliver the new infrastructure that the country desperately needs.
“We can’t rebalance the economy or fix the railway capacity crisis without HS2. It’s essential that the planned route is now protected so that a future government can reverse this disastrous decision.”
Mr Sunak accepted he would face criticism for the decision – having already been slammed by Tory grandees, regional politicians and businesses before the announcement was even made.
“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.”
Mr Sunak addressed 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.”
Mr Street confirmed he would not resign from his post despite being “incredibly disappointed” about the HS2 decision.
He said he had “thought incredibly long and hard about what my future in the Conservative Party should be”, but had decided to remain a member.
“The West Midlands must be at the heart of the UK’s modern transport network and reap all the benefits that will bring,” he said.
“The prime minister has today reached out to work with me to make that happen and to turn my back on that offer would be doing a serious dis-service to my region.
“I know this decision will make me deeply unpopular in some circles, and indeed many wanted me to resign and make a statement against my party.”
The prime minister announced a number of other policies that had been trailed in the days leading up to the conference – including introducing a British baccalaureate to allow pupils over 16 to study a wider range of subjects, and new tactics for making England smoke-free.