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The cost of building HS2 between London and Birmingham could reach nearly £67bn – almost double an early projection for the entire project to the north.

HS2 Ltd executive chairman Sir Jon Thompson told MPs the estimated cost for phase one stood between £49bn and £56.6bn based on 2019 prices – but adjusting the range for current prices would mean “adding somewhere between £8bn and £10bn”.

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The new estimate is nearly double what the high-speed network was expected to cost in 2013, when it had a price tag of £37.5bn.

That figure was based on 2009 prices for the entire planned network, including the routes from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds which have now been scrapped.

Giving evidence to parliament’s Transport Select Committee, Sir Jon said the costs for phase one had jumped due to original budgets being too low, poor delivery and inflation.

He said there was a “systemic problem” where budgets are set out early “based on very, very immature data”.

“You don’t have a design, you haven’t procured anything, there is no detail on which you can cost anything,” he explained.

“But then you get into the detailed design, you know exactly how big it is, what surfaces you want, how much concrete needs to be poured. Unsurprisingly you get a better number.”

A general view of the HS2 construction site at Curzon Street in Birmingham city centre, Birmingham, Britain, October 3, 2023. REUTERS/Carl Recine
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The HS2 construction site at Curzon Street in Birmingham

Rishi Sunak took the controversial decision to scrap the northern leg of HS2 to Manchester at the Tory party conference in October, attracting criticism from regional leaders who branded it a “betrayal” of northern voters.

The prime minister promised to spend the billions of cash savings on hundreds of other transport schemes across the country instead, including a new Network North project to join up northern cities by rail.

The government was recently mocked after it emerged roads in London will be revamped as part of the project.

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A recent document published by the Department for Transport (DfT) which outlined plans for Network North stated the government believed phase one of HS2 should cost between £45bn and £54bn – and HS2 Ltd “should deliver at the lower end of this range”.

But Sir Jon told the committee: “It’s for the department and the government to decide what it wants to use that data for, but I do not believe that phase one could be delivered for £45bn.”

He also told the committee the decision to scrap HS2 north of Birmingham could lead to a reduction in seat capacity for train services between London and Manchester compared with today.

Louise Haigh, Labour’s shadow transport secretary, said: “This is a direct result of Rishi Sunak’s weak leadership and mismanagement of HS2.

“As chief secretary, chancellor and now PM Rishi Sunak has allowed costs to soar, and public money go down the drain.

“This is a government with no direction, no plan and no regard for taxpayers’ money.”

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5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

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5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

5 countries where crypto is (surprisingly) tax-free in 2025

Looking to live tax-free with crypto in 2025? These five countries, including the Cayman Islands, UAE and Germany, still offer legal, zero-tax treatment for cryptocurrencies.

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Children with special needs will ‘always’ have ‘legal right’ to support, education secretary says

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Children with special needs will 'always' have 'legal right' to support, education secretary says

The education secretary has said children with special needs will “always” have a legal right to additional support as she sought to quell a looming row over potential cuts.

The government is facing a potential repeat of the debacle over welfare reform due to suggestions it could scrap tailored plans for children and young people with special needs in the classroom.

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Speaking in the Commons on Monday, Bridget Phillipson failed to rule out abolishing education, health and care plans (EHCPs) – legally-binding plans to ensure children and young people receive bespoke support in either mainstream or specialist schools.

Laura Trott, the shadow education secretary, said parents’ anxiety was “through the roof” following reports over the weekend that EHCPs could be scrapped.

She said parents “need and deserve answers” and asked: “Can she confirm that no parent or child will have their right to support reduced, replaced or removed as a result of her planned changes?”

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Sophy’s thought on whether to scrap EHCPs

Ms Phillipson said SEND provision was a “serious and complex area” and that the government’s plans would be set out in a white paper that would be published later in the year.

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“I would say to all parents of children with SEND, there is no responsibility I take more seriously than our responsibility to some of the most vulnerable children in our country,” she said.

“We will ensure, as a government, that children get better access to more support, strengthened support, with a much sharper focus on early intervention.”

ECHPs are drawn up by local councils and are available to children and young people aged up to 25 who need more support than is provided by the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) budget.

They identify educational, health and social needs and set out the additional support to meet those needs.

In total, there were 638,745 EHCPs in place in January 2025 – up 10.8% on the same point last year.

‘Rebel ready’

One Labour MP said they were concerned the government risked making the “same mistakes” over ECHPs as it did with the row over welfare, when it was eventually forced into a humiliating climbdown in the face of opposition by Labour MPs.

“The political risk is much higher even than with welfare, and I’m worried it’s being driven by a need to save money which it shouldn’t be,” they told Sky News.

“Some colleagues are rebel ready.”

The MP said the government should be “charting a transition from where we are now to where we need to be”, adding: “That may well be a future without ECHPs, because there is mainstream capacity – but that cannot be a removal of current provision.”

Later in the debate, Ms Phillipson said children with special educational needs and disabilities would “always” have a “legal right” to additional support as she accused a Conservative MP of attempting to “scare” parents.

“The guiding principle of any reform to the SEND system that we will set out will be about better support for children, strengthened support for children and improved support for children, both inside and outside of special schools,” she said.

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“Improved inclusivity in mainstream schools, more specialist provision in mainstream schools, and absolutely drawing on the expertise of the specialist sector in creating the places where we need them, there will always be a legal right … to the additional support… that children with SEND need.”

Her words were echoed by schools minister Catherine McKinnell, who also did not rule out changing ECHPs.

She told the Politics Hub With Sophy Ridge that the government was “focused on reforming the whole system”.

“Children and families have been left in a system where they’ve had to fight for their child’s education, and that has to change,” she said.

She added that EHCPs have not necessarily “fixed the situation” for some children – but for others it’s “really important”.

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Government to ban ‘appalling’ non-disclosure agreements that silence victims of abuse at work

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Government to ban 'appalling' non-disclosure agreements that silence victims of abuse at work

Victims will no longer have to “suffer in silence”, the government has said, as it pledges to ban non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) designed to silence staff who’ve suffered harassment or discrimination.

Accusers of Harvey Weinstein, the former film producer and convicted sex offender, are among many in recent years who had to breach such agreements in order to speak out.

Labour has suggested an extra section in the Employment Rights Bill that would void NDAs that are intended to stop employees going public about harassment or discrimination.

The government said this would allow victims to come forward about their situation rather than remain “stuck in unwanted situations, through fear or desperation”.

Zelda Perkins, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, led the calls for wrongful NDAs to be banned. Pic: Reuters
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Zelda Perkins, former assistant to Harvey Weinstein, led the calls for wrongful NDAs to be banned. Pic: Reuters

Zelda Perkins, Weinstein’s former assistant and founder of Can’t Buy My Silence UK, said the changes would mark a “huge milestone” in combatting the “abuse of power”.

She added: “This victory belongs to the people who broke their NDAs, who risked everything to speak the truth when they were told they couldn’t. Without their courage, none of this would be happening.”

Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner said the government had “heard the calls from victims of harassment and discrimination” and was taking action to prevent people from having to “suffer in silence”.

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Weinstein found guilty of sex crime in retrial

An NDA is a broad term that describes any agreement that restricts what a signatory can say about something and was originally intended to protect commercially sensitive information.

Currently, a business can take an employee to court and seek compensation if they think a NDA has been broken – even if that person is a victim or witness of harassment or discrimination.

“Many high profile cases” have revealed NDAs are being manipulated to prevent people “speaking out about horrific experiences in the workplace”, the government said.

Announcing the amendments, employment minister Justin Madders said: “The misuse of NDAs to silence victims of harassment or discrimination is an appalling practice that this government has been determined to end.”

The bill is currently in the House of Lords, where it will be debated on 14 July, before going on to be discussed by MPs as well.

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