HS2 ‘offers very little value for money’ after northern leg ditched, MPs warn

Published

2 years ago

February 7, 2024

admin

Rishi Sunak’s plan to build HS2 between London and Birmingham but not extend it to Manchester will be “very poor value for money”, cross-party MPs have warned.

The Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which examines government spending, said there are “many uncertainties” in the assessment that it was better to complete Phase 1 of the project than cancel the whole thing.

The group also said it is “highly sceptical” that the Department for Transport (DfT) will be able to attract the private investment needed for the planned central London terminus at Euston.

The report stated: “HS2 now offers very poor value for money to the taxpayer, and the department and HS2 Ltd do not yet know what it expects the final benefits of the programme to be.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said they disagreed with the committee’s assessment.

It comes as the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, and his Labour counterpart in Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, are due to hold an event on Wednesday to outline their plans to work with private investors on improving rail in the North and Midlands.

The prime minister made the controversial decision to scrap the northern leg of the high speed rail project last year amid ballooning prices.

The estimated cost of building HS2 between London and Birmingham could be as high as £67bn, according to HS2 Ltd, up from a budget of £44.6bn in 2019.

The original bill for the whole project – at 2009 prices – was supposed to be £37.5bn.

The PAC report said there are many “unknown ramifications” of the decision to scale back the railway, ranging from how land and property no longer needed will be disposed of, impacts on other rail projects dependent on the cancelled phases, what will be delivered with the money saved, and how HS2 trains will operate on existing lines.

The report said the DfT have acknowledged to the committee that the total costs of building Phase 1 “will significantly outweigh benefits”, but officials have judged that continuing with that section “was value for money”, partly due to avoiding £11bn of costs that would be incurred from cancellation.

However, the report said: “There are many uncertainties in this assessment and we were left with little assurance over the calculations.”

Mr Sunak’s October 2023 announcement also included a new plan to rely on private investment to extend HS2 from Old Oak Common in the suburbs of west London to Euston, near the centre of the capital.

This is aimed at saving £6.5bn of taxpayers’ money.

But the PAC said: “We are… highly sceptical that the department will be able to attract private investment on the scale and speed required to make the London terminus station a success.”

Dame Meg Hillier, the Labour MP who chairs the committee, said: “HS2 is the biggest ticket item by value on the government’s books for infrastructure projects.

“As such, it was crying out for a steady hand at the tiller from the start.

“But, here we are after over a decade of our warnings on HS2’s management and spiralling costs, locked into the costly completion of a curtailed rump of a project and many unanswered questions and risks still attached to delivery of even this curtailed project.”

Click to subscribe to the Sky News Daily wherever you get your podcasts

The move to ditch the northern leg of HS2 was highly controversial, triggering a backlash from Tory grandees, regional leaders, businesses and the rail industry.

HS2 was touted as the UK’s biggest infrastructure project and was supposed to transform public transport between London, the Midlands and the North.

Last month, HS2 Ltd executive chairman Sir Jon Thompson said reasons for the cost increase include original budgets being too low, changes to scope, lower than expected productivity, weak contractual models and inflation.

In response to the PAC report, a spokesperson for the company said they have been “clear about the cost challenges”, adding: “HS2 Ltd is now under new leadership and implementing changes across the programme aimed at controlling costs and learning the lessons of the past.”

A DfT spokesperson said: “We disagree with the Committee’s assessment.

“Our plans for Euston have already received extensive support from the private sector to invest and will offer a world class regeneration opportunity, mirroring the successful King’s Cross and Battersea and Nine Elms development programmes.

“The Permanent Secretary has already written to the Committee chair setting out her assessment on value for money, and we have repeatedly made clear we will continue to deliver HS2 at the lowest reasonable cost, in a way that provides value for taxpayers.”

Politics

Kemi Badenoch accuses Sir Keir Starmer of ‘lying’ about Peter Mandelson prior to sacking him

Published

12 hours ago

September 13, 2025

admin

Kemi Badenoch accuses Sir Keir Starmer of 'lying' about Peter Mandelson prior to sacking him

Kemi Badenoch has accused Sir Keir Starmer of “lying to the whole country” about what he knew regarding Peter Mandelson’s correspondence with Jeffrey Epstein.

Lord Mandelson was this week stripped of his position as ambassador to the US amid fresh scrutiny over his years-long friendship with the convicted paedophile.

The prime minister initially defended the Labour peer but removed him from his post on Thursday after newly seen emails revealed he sent messages of support to Epstein even as he faced jail for sex offences in 2008.

Politics latest: ‘Unite the Kingdom’ rally takes place with counterprotest nearby

The Times has now reported that Downing Street and the Foreign Office were aware of the emails on Tuesday – a day before Sir Keir gave Lord Mandelson his backing at Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs).

In a post on X, Conservative leader Ms Badenoch wrote: “Looks like the Prime Minister and Labour MPs spent the week lying to the whole country about what they knew regarding Mandelson’s involvement with convicted paedophile Jeffrey Epstein.”

She continued: “If No 10 had those emails for 48 hours before acting, it means he lied at PMQs and ministers lied again about new additional information. These are yet more errors of judgment.

“The Prime Minister has very serious questions to answer. The only way to clear this up is full transparency about who knew what, and when.”

👉 Listen to Sky News Daily on your podcast app 👈

Sources said Sir Keir was not aware of the contents of the emails when he told MPs he had “confidence” in Lord Mandelson.

A media enquiry outlining details of the messages between Lord Mandelson and Epstein was sent to the Foreign Office on Tuesday, and passed on to Number 10.

Sir Oliver Robbins, the permanent under-secretary at the Foreign Office, asked Lord Mandelson about the emails on Tuesday, but did not receive a response until the following day.

Sir Keir is understood not to have been aware of the contents of the emails until Wednesday evening.

Speaking to Sky News, one Labour MP has called for more information on what happened behind closed doors at No 10 this week.

Jo White, MP for Bassetlaw, in Nottinghamshire, said: “We cannot move on until we find out how he [Sir Keir] was not briefed properly before PMQs.”

“What he needs to do now is get on top and sort out this mess,” she said. “Suspend the whip from Peter Mandelson and expel him from the party, then have a transparent enquiry about what went wrong at No.10.”

This came as Sir Keir enjoyed some time away from Downing Street.

The prime minister was on Saturday pictured watching Arsenal face Nottingham Forest in a Premier League match at the Emirates Stadium.

Lord Mandelson’s exit came after less than a fortnight after another high-profile loss for the Labour government, as Angela Rayner was forced to quit as deputy prime minister and deputy Labour leader over her tax affairs.

As Sir Keir has faced a scandal-hit start to the month, a growing number of Labour MPs have begun calling his leadership into question.

Lucy Powell, who is running to replace Ms Rayner as Labour’s deputy leader, has called for a “change of culture” at Downing Street.

“We’ve got a bit of a groupthink happening at the top, that culture of not being receptive to interrogation, not being receptive to differing views,” she told The Guardian newspaper.

Meanwhile, senior Labour MP Emily Thornberry has written to the new foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, demanding answers about the vetting process for UK diplomats in the wake of Lord Mandelson’s sacking.

Politics

Man admits arson after major fire at MP Sharon Hodgson’s constituency office

Published

18 hours ago

September 13, 2025

admin

Man admits arson after major fire at MP Sharon Hodgson's constituency office

A man has admitted arson after a major fire at an MP’s constituency office.

Joshua Oliver, 28, pleaded guilty to starting the fire which destroyed the office of Labour MP Sharon Hodgson, at Vermont House in Washington, Tyne and Wear.

The fire also wrecked a small charity for people with very rare genetic diseases and an NHS mental health service for veterans.

The guilty plea was entered at Newcastle Magistrates’ Court on the basis that it was reckless rather than intentional.

The Crown did not accept that basis of plea.

Oliver, of no fixed address, had been living in a tent nearby, the court heard.

Northumbria Police previously said it was “alerted to a fire at a premises on Woodland Terrace in the Washington area” shortly after 12.20am on Thursday.

“Emergency services attended and no one is reported to have been injured in the incident,” it added.

Drone footage from the scene showed extensive damage to the building.

A spokesperson for the Crown Prosecution Service said: “Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to trial and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.

“We have worked closely with Northumbria Police as they carried out their investigation.”

Oliver was remanded in custody and will appear at Newcastle Crown Court on Tuesday, 14 October.