HS2: Parts of rail project to be delayed for two years

Published

2 years ago

March 10, 2023

admin

The government has announced the construction of sections of HS2 will be delayed by two years to save money.

The high-speed railway was initially set to link London and the West Midlands with a further phase extending to cities in the North.

However, Transport Secretary Mark Harper said on Thursday: “We have seen significant inflationary pressure and increased project costs, and so we will rephase construction by two years, with an aim to deliver high-speed services to Crewe and the North West as soon as possible after accounting for the delay in construction.”

The delay will affect the northwest section of HS2, from Birmingham to Crewe, and then from Crewe to Manchester.

The first part was due for extension between 2030 and 2034 to help boost transport in the north of England, but the window has now shifted to 2032 to 2036 while services will not extend to Manchester until the 2040s.

In a written ministerial statement, Mr Harper said the government is “prioritising HS2’s initial services” between Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Curzon Street.

On delivering services to central London, he also hinted at delays, saying: “We will address affordability pressures to ensure the overall spending profile is manageable.

“We will therefore take the time to ensure we have an affordable and deliverable station design, delivering Euston alongside high-speed infrastructure to Manchester.”

This means it could be more than a decade before high-speed services stop at Euston, with passengers expected instead travel for half an hour on the Elizabeth Line.

Mr Harper also announced a series of setbacks affecting key road projects under cost-saving measures that threaten to deliver a blow to “levelling up” plans.

A planned extension to Leeds was already shelved in November 2021.

Labour said the latest delay meant the North was again having to “pay the price” for government failures.

Louise Haigh, the shadow transport secretary, said: “Tens of thousands of jobs, and billions in economic growth are dependent on this project.

“The North is yet again being asked to pay the price for staggering Conservative failure.

“Conservative chaos and chronic indecision is holding back jobs, growth and costing the taxpayer.

“This is the biggest project in Europe and delays pile costs up in the long run – ministers now need to come clean on precisely how much their indecision will cost taxpayers and the North.”

Raising a point of order in the Commons, Labour MP Sarah Owen also attacked Mr Harper for “avoiding scrutiny”.

She said the cabinet minister “should have had the decency to come to this House and explain to members why they are doing this” instead of publishing a written statement “at nearly 5 o’clock on Thursday afternoon”.

Commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle also criticised the way the delay was communicated, with his spokesperson saying: “The Speaker has consistently told the government that major policy announcements should be made to the House first so that members have the chance to ask questions on behalf of their constituents, rather than hearing about them via the media.”

Delay ‘could lead to higher costs’

Delivery of the high-speed railway has been a core pledge of the Conservative government but it has been plagued by delays and ever-increasing costs – from estimates of about £33 billion in 2010 to £55.7bn for the whole project in 2015.

By 2019, the estimated cost had soared to at least £71bn, excluding the final eastern leg from the West Midlands to the East Midlands.

Ministers are understood to be delaying construction of the northern section in the hope they can spread the cost over a longer period of time so it was more affordable annually.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is set to announce his spring budget next week and will have Rishi Sunak’s target in mind – to get government debt to fall as a percentage of GDP within five years.

However, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the delay would hit confidence in the rail industry and could ultimately lead to higher overall costs for HS2.

John Foster, the CBI’s policy unit programme director, said the news “will ultimately reduce investor and contractor confidence in the rail sector”.

“To mitigate further loss of confidence, it is critical that government tackles the inflationary pressures which are biting hard across the infrastructure sector,” he said.

“Delays to projects may create short-term savings, but they can ultimately lead to higher overall costs and slow down the UK’s transition to a better, faster and greener transport network.”

HS2 a ‘colossal mistake’

Leader of Birmingham City Council, Ian Ward, said the delay is “another betrayal of the Midlands and the North, making a mockery of the government’s empty promises to level up the UK economy”.

But Conservative MP and former chief secretary to the Treasury Simon Clarke said delaying construction “would be a sensible decision”.

“Having observed HS2’s progress as chief secretary, I have serious doubts as to value for money and cost control,” he said.

Greg Smith, the Conservative MP for Buckingham, called for the government to “accept the whole thing was a colossal mistake and scrap it, all of it”.

Just last week, rail minister Huw Merriman told the Commons the government is “absolutely committed” to delivering HS2 but admitted “cost pressures” must be examined.

HS2 Ltd chief executive Mark Thurston said the project had suffered a “significant” impact from increased costs in building materials, fuel and energy due to high inflation.

HS2 is Britain’s biggest infrastructure project and has had support from governments of all stripes since it was first mooted more than a decade ago.

But last month, the government reportedly planned to make drastic changes that would almost halve the number of high-speed trains per hour and services would travel slower to save money.

The Department for Transport (DfT) said at the time it “does not comment on speculation” and said the government “remain committed to delivering the project”.

In January, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said he did not see “any conceivable circumstance” in which the original plan would not be followed after reports the high-speed line could stop before reaching central London.

There were claims the last leg of HS2 into Euston could be scrapped and replaced with a new hub at Old Oak Common in the suburbs of northwest London, where it is set to stop before travelling into Euston.

The government did not deny the reports or that a two to five-year delay to the entire project – currently due to be completed between 2029 and 2033 – was being considered due to record high inflation impacting costs.

World

Putin humiliated by ‘Russia’s Pearl Harbor’ – as Kyiv goes for broke

Published

2 hours ago

June 2, 2025

admin

Putin humiliated by 'Russia's Pearl Harbor' - as Kyiv goes for broke

An audacious Ukrainian drone attack against multiple airbases across Russia is a humiliating security breach for Vladimir Putin that will doubtless trigger a furious response.

Pro-Kremlin bloggers have described the drone assault – which Ukrainian security sources said hit more than 40 Russian warplanes – as “Russia’s Pearl Harbor” in reference to the Japanese attack against the US in 1941 that prompted Washington to enter the Second World War.

Ukraine war latest: Russia accuses Kyiv of ‘terrorist attack’

The Ukrainian operation – which used small drones smuggled into Russia, hidden in mobile sheds and launched off the back of trucks – also demonstrated how technology and imagination have transformed the battlefield, enabling Ukraine to seriously hurt its far more powerful opponent.

Moscow will have to retaliate, with speculation already appearing online about whether President Putin will again threaten the use of nuclear weapons.

“We hope that the response will be the same as the US response to the attack on their Pearl Harbor or even harsher,” military blogger Roman Alekhin wrote on his Telegram channel.

Codenamed ‘Spider’s Web’, the mission on Sunday was the culmination of one and a half years of planning, according to a security source.

In that time, Ukraine’s secret service smuggled first-person view (FPV) drones into Russia, sources with knowledge of the operation said.

Flat-pack, garden-office style sheds were also secretly transported into the country.

The oblong sheds were then built and drones were hidden inside, before the containers were put on the back of trucks and driven to within range of their respective targets.

At a chosen time, doors on the roofs of the huts were opened remotely and the drones were flown out. Each was armed with a bomb that was flown into the airfields, with videos released by the security service that purportedly showed them blasting into Russian aircraft.

Among the targets were Tu-95 and Tu-22 bomber aircraft that can launch cruise missiles, according to the Ukrainian side. An A-50 airborne early warning aircraft was also allegedly hit. This is a valuable platform that is used to command and control operations.

The use of such simple technology to destroy multi-million-pound aircraft will be watched with concern by governments around the world.

Suddenly, every single military base, airfield and warship will appear that little bit more vulnerable if any truck nearby could be loaded with killer drones.

The most immediate focus, though, will be on how Mr Putin responds.

Previous attacks by Ukraine inside Russia have triggered retaliatory strikes and increasingly threatening rhetoric from the Kremlin.

But this latest operation is one of the biggest and most significant, and comes on the eve of a new round of peace talks between Moscow and Kyiv that are meant to take place in Turkey. It is not clear if that will still happen.

US President Donald Trump has been pushing for the two sides to make peace but Russia has only escalated its war.

Ukraine clearly felt it had nothing to lose but to also go on the attack.

World

Eight injured in petrol bomb and ‘flamethrower’ attack at rally for Hamas-held hostages in Colorado

Published

2 hours ago

June 2, 2025

admin

Eight injured in petrol bomb and 'flamethrower' attack at rally for Hamas-held hostages in Colorado

Eight people have been injured at a US rally for Israeli hostages after they were attacked by a man with a makeshift flamethrower and petrol bombs.

A group of people in Boulder, Colorado, were holding a regular demonstration to raise awareness of Hamas-held hostages in Gaza when they were allegedly targeted by a man who shouted “Free Palestine” on Sunday. The suspect was arrested at the scene.

Four women and four men aged between 52 and 88 were injured and transported to hospitals, Boulder police said.

The force said the injuries ranged from “very serious” to “more minor”.

Some of the victims were airlifted to hospital.

Authorities had earlier put the count of the injured at six and said at least one of them was in a critical condition.

The FBI says the attack was a targeted “act of terrorism” and named the suspect as 45-year-old Mohamed Soliman from El Paso County, Colorado.

He was also taken to hospital after the alleged attack.

Eyewitnesses said the suspect threw Molotov cocktails, an improvised bomb made from a bottle filled with petrol and stuffed with a piece of cloth to use as a fuse, into people attending the demonstration.

He also used a “makeshift flamethrower” during the attack, according to Mark Michalek, special agent in charge of the FBI’s Denver field office.

Two senior law enforcement officials told Sky News’ US partner network that Soliman is an Egyptian national who seemingly acted alone. They said he has no previous significant contact with law enforcement.

The White House described the suspect as an “illegal alien” who had received a work permit under the Biden administration despite overstaying a tourist visa.

A large part of downtown Boulder was cordoned off as sniffer dogs and the bomb squad searched for potential devices.

Police chief Steve Redfearn said the attack happened around 1.26pm on Sunday and that initial reports were that “people were being set on fire”.

“When we arrived we encountered multiple victims that were injured, with injuries consistent with burns,” Mr Redfearn told the media.

The police chief also said he did not believe anyone else was involved.

“We’re fairly confident we have the lone suspect in custody,” he said.

Boulder’s police chief said the attack happened as a “group of pro-Israel people” were peacefully demonstrating.

The walk is held regularly by a volunteer group called Run For Their Lives, which aims to raise awareness of the hostages who remain in Gaza.

Video from the scene showed a bare-chested man shouting and clutching two bottles after the attack.

Other footage showed him being held down and arrested by police as people doused one of the victims with water.

Nearby there appears to be a large black burn mark on the ground.

Brooke Coffman, a 19-year-old student, described seeing four women on the ground with burns on their legs. She said one appeared badly burned on most of her body and had been wrapped in a flag.

She described seeing a man whom she presumed to be the attacker standing in the courtyard shirtless, holding a glass
bottle of clear liquid and shouting.

“Everybody is yelling, ‘get water, get water,'” Ms Coffman said.

Lady on fire ‘from head to toe’

Another eyewitness, who did not give his name, said: “It was very strange to just hear a crash on the ground of a bottle breaking and then it sounded like a boom and then people started yelling and screaming.

“But I saw fire, I saw people screaming and crying and tripping and I saw the attacker – he had three Molotov cocktails.

“One of them he threw inside a group and one lady lit on fire from head to toe and then the other four people were also injured in the fire, but not as bad as the first one.”

The eyewitness continued: “The attacker came out from the bushes and the trees… he threw another cocktail, and on the second one he lit himself on fire – I imagine accidentally.

“He seemed to have a bullet proof vest on, or some kind of vest, and then a shirt underneath it.

“And after he lit himself on fire he took off the vest and the shirt and he was shirtless.

“But he still had his Molotov cocktails in his hands ready to use them… ready to throw them and explode them on people.”

Lynn Segal, another eyewitness, said: “These shoots of fire, linear, about 20 feet long, spears of fire, two of them at least, came across right into the group, about 15 feet from me.”

The 72-year-old said two neighbours of hers, a husband and wife in their 80s, were at the demonstration. She added that the wife was one of the victims and appeared to be the most seriously injured.

“They’re both elders in their 80s, and you can’t take something like this assault to your body as easily as someone younger.”

Ms Segal, who was wearing a “Free Palestine” T-shirt, said she watches the demonstrations to “try and listen” to what the volunteers are “talking about” because she is concerned about the hostages.

She added that she is concerned the attack will “divide this community”.

Another eyewitness told MSNBC that he saw the suspect “lighting people on fire while spraying gasoline on them”.

Brian, who is himself Jewish and asked that his last name not be made public, added that he saw victims “having their skin melt off their bodies”.

A statement from Boulder’s Jewish community said “an incendiary device was thrown at walkers at the Run for Their Lives walk on Pearl Street as they were raising awareness for the hostages still held in Gaza”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement this morning: “This attack was aimed against peaceful people who wished to express their solidarity with the hostages held by Hamas, simply because they were Jews.

“I trust the United States authorities to prosecute the cold blood perpetrator to the fullest extent of the law and do everything possible to prevent future attacks against innocent civilians.

“The antisemitic attacks around the world are a direct result of blood libels against the Jewish state and people, and this must be stopped.”

US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a prominent Jewish Democrat , said it was an antisemitic attack.

“This is horrifying, and this cannot continue. We must stand up to antisemitism,” he said on X.

Boulder is a university city of about 105,000 people on the northwest edge of Denver, in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains.

The attack follows the arrest of a Chicago-born man in the fatal shooting of two Israeli embassy employees in Washington DC two weeks ago.

Tensions are simmering in the US over Israel’s war in Gaza.

There has been an increase in antisemitic hate crime, as well as moves by some supporters of Israel to brand pro-Palestinian protests as antisemitic.

President Trump’s administration has detained protesters without charge and pulled funding from elite universities that have permitted such demonstrations.

World

Trump-inspired candidate Karol Nawrocki wins Poland’s presidential election

Published

2 hours ago

June 2, 2025

admin

Trump-inspired candidate Karol Nawrocki wins Poland's presidential election

Conservative historian Karol Nawrocki, who draws inspiration from Donald Trump, has won Poland’s presidential election.

Mr Nawrocki secured 50.89% of votes while his opponent, Liberal pro-EU candidate Rafal Trzaskowski, took 49.11%.

Earlier, an exit poll called the result the other way around – with both men declaring victory.

Mr Nawrocki had positioned himself as a defender of traditional Polish values, aligning himself with US conservatives, including Mr Trump, and showing scepticism towards the EU.

Meanwhile, Mr Trzaskowski, 53, had promised to ease abortion restrictions, introduce civil partnerships for LGBT couples and promote constructive ties with European partners.

The vote has been closely watched in neighbouring Ukraine as well as in Russia, the European Union and the United States – with the election being framed as Poland choosing between more liberal norms or a more nationalist path.

This runoff follows a tightly-contested first round of voting in May, which saw Mr Trzaskowski win just over 31% and Mr Nawrocki nearly 30%, eliminating 11 other candidates.

Mr Nawrocki won the vote despite discussions about his past dominating the last days of the campaign – from questions over his acquisition of a flat from a pensioner to an admission that he took part in orchestrated brawls.

“Everything was on a knife edge,” said 32-year-old IT specialist Patryk Marek. “Feelings are for sure mixed for this moment. But how small this margin was, it tells us how divided we are almost in half as voters.”

Poland’s new president will have significant influence over whether the country’s centrist government can fulfil its agenda, given the presidential power to veto laws.

Led by Prime Minister Donald Tusk, the government had struggled to pass legislation with Poland’s previous president in power and may find the same is true once Mr Nawrocki is sworn in.

Like his predecessor, Mr Nawrocki is expected to block any attempts by the government to liberalise abortion or reform the judiciary.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said she was convinced the EU could continue its “very good cooperation” with Poland.

“We are all stronger together in our community of peace, democracy, and values. So let us work to ensure the security and prosperity of our common home,” she said.

There has been some discussion about whether a win for Mr Nawrocki could lead to fresh elections in Poland.

Jacek Sasin, a politician for the opposition Law and Justice party, said: “The referendum on the dismissal of the Tusk government has been won.”