Private sector investment needed for HS2 to reach Euston station
The embattled highspeed rail project, HS2, will not reach its London terminus without private sector funding, Sky News understands.
Without substantial corporate investment there is no guarantee of the line ending in Euston – instead it would end at Old Oak Common in west London.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has reallocated the public sector budget for a new extension to the station and a tunnel leading to it on transport links in other parts of the country.
In a speech scrapping the Manchester leg of the line, Sunak pledged investment for other areas of the North, including a Midlands Rail Hub to connect 50 stations and the Network North project to join up northern cities by rail.
Euston and its surrounds are already in the process of being redeveloped to make way for the line and for a new Euston station.
But HS2 work at Euston was paused earlier this year due to ballooning costs. Estimates grew to £4.8bn compared with an initial, 2019 projected spend of £2.6bn.
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PM’s speech: three key takeaways.
A new development company, separate from HS2 Ltd, will be appointed to manage the delivery of the Euston project, the Department for Transport said.
“There is already support and interest from the private sector,” a government spokesperson said.
“Ministers have had discussions with key partners since the announcement and the transport secretary will be meeting with the Euston Partnership in the coming weeks.”
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Extending HS2 to Euston involves building 4.5 miles of underground tunnel from Old Oak Common and a six-platform station next to the existing Euston station. Initial plans were to build 11 platforms.
The government has again showed its support for the original plans.
Mr Sunak said the line from Birmingham to Euston will be completed, in his Conservative Party conference speech on Wednesday, and the government’s new plan for the central London station, including taking private investment, will generate “£6.5bn of savings”.
Officials at the Department for Transport believe the capacity of Old Oak Common as an HS2 start and end point can facilitate eight trains per hour, the same number as planned for Euston.
There are concerns, however, at the lack of options for onward journeys from Old Oak Common. Euston is connected to national rail and multiple tube lines.
Government modelling also showed two-thirds of people would prefer to travel to or from Euston.
Hester Peirce, a commissioner of the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and head of the SEC’s Crypto Task Force, reaffirmed the right to crypto self-custody and privacy in financial transactions.
“I’m a freedom maximalist,” Peirce told The Rollup podcast on Friday, while saying that self-custody of assets is a fundamental human right. She added:
“Why should I have to be forced to go through someone else to hold my assets? It baffles me that in this country, which is so premised on freedom, that would even be an issue — of course, people can hold their own assets.”
Peirce added that online financial privacy should be the standard. “It has become the presumption that if you want to keep your transactions private, you’re doing something wrong, but it should be exactly the opposite presumption,” she said.
The comments came as the Digital Asset Market Structure Clarity Act, a crypto market structure bill that includes provisions for self-custody, anti-money laundering(AML) regulations, and asset taxonomy, is delayed until 2026, according to Senator Tim Scott.
Related: SEC to hold privacy and financial surveillance roundtable in December
Exchange-traded funds (ETFs) challenge Bitcoin’s self-custody ethos
Many large Bitcoin (BTC) whales and long-term holders are pivoting from self-custody to ETFs to reap the tax benefits and hassle-free management of owning crypto in an investment vehicle.
“We are witnessing the first decline in self-custodied Bitcoin in 15 years,” Dr. Martin Hiesboeck, the head of research at crypto exchange Uphold, said.
Hiesboeck attributed the shift to the SEC approving in-kind creations and redemptions for crypto ETFs in July, which allowed authorized holders to exchange crypto for ETF shares and vice versa without triggering a taxable event, unlike cash-settled ETFs.
“A move away from the self-custody mantra of ‘not your keys, not your coins’ is another nail in the coffin of the original crypto spirit,” Hiesboeck added.
In February, notable Bitcoin analyst and investor PlanB, the developer of the BTC stock-to-flow model, announced that he transferred his Bitcoin to ETFs to alleviate the “hassle” of private key management.
PlanB’s announcement caused an outcry in the Bitcoin community, as many voiced concerns that handing over custody to a third party clashed with Bitcoin’s core values.
Magazine: When privacy and AML laws conflict: Crypto projects’ impossible choice
Jeremy Corbyn has declined to say his Your Party co-founder Zarah Sultana is a friend as supporters of the new grouping gather in Liverpool.
Speaking to Sky News on the eve of the conference, Mr Corbyn acknowledged “stresses and strains” in the set-up of the party but said it had become “a lot better in the last few days and weeks and we’re going to get through this weekend”.
The former Labour leader has publicly clashed with Ms Sultana, the MP for Coventry South, over the launch and structure of the new party.
Asked if they were friends, Mr Corbyn said they were “colleagues in parliament, and we obviously communicate and so on”.
The pair appeared at separate events on the eve of the party’s inaugural gathering.
Ms Sultana had previously claimed she was being “sidelined” by a “sexist boys’ club” within the fledgling party.
Mr Corbyn said her comments were an “unfortunate choice of words” but added that he had been more involved in the organisation of the conference than she had.
The co-founders have had a strained relationship since setting up the party. Pic: Your Party
The Islington North MP also said that Your Party was still waiting for Ms Sultana to transfer all of the funds she had raised from supporters.
“Obviously having money up front for a conference is a big help,” he said.
Ms Sultana has insisted she is transferring the donations in stages.
The weekend gathering in Liverpool will see supporters choose between four options for a permanent party name: Your Party, Our Party, Popular Alliance, For the Many.
The preferred choice of Ms Sultana – The Left – did not make the ballot.
Similarly, the Coventry MP had said she favoured a co-leader approach, but members will only be able to pick between single leadership or collective leadership models.
Speaking at her own pre-conference rally, Ms Sultana blamed a “nameless, faceless bureaucrat” for restricting the choices.
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The meeting also risked being disrupted by a series of member expulsions. One of those ejected, Lewis Nielsen, accused a “clique” of trying to “take over”.
Your Party sources said expulsions related to members of the Socialist Workers Party and that holding another national party membership was not allowed.
Ms Sultana blamed a “culture of paranoia at the top” and said she believed the same people who had been briefing against her were now also expelling members.
Mr Corbyn will open the conference on Saturday, while the results of the main decision-making votes will be announced on Sunday.
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