Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt reviewing how HS2 costs ‘can be controlled’

Published

9 months ago

September 26, 2023

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Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are looking at how costs of HS2 “can be controlled” and no decision has been taken on whether to axe the northern leg, a minister said.

The prime minister is said to be “alarmed” by the spiralling costs of the high speed rail project, after being presented with figures suggesting the overall price could pass £100bn if it is constructed in full.

Asked about the reports, Chris Philp, policing minister, told Sky News: “Well it’s [the cost] gone up a lot. It’s roughly tripled, I think, since it was first conceived.

“So no decisions have been taken about the remaining stages of HS2 but I do know the chancellor and prime minister are looking at how the cost can be controlled.“

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He also insisted the people of Manchester are “definitely not” second-class citizens, as Labour Mayor Andy Burnham has claimed following speculation the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the journey is set to be scrapped.

“The commitment to the Midlands, the North, the levelling up agenda is absolutely undimmed,” Mr Philp said.

“What this review is about is making sure the costs are controlled and I think any taxpayer anywhere in the country would want to see that kind of prudence apply.”

Ministers have refused to guarantee the HS2 line to Manchester will go ahead as planned since a report in The Independent this month said it was due to be axed because of rising costs.

Mr Burnham today refused to rule out legal action if the route is scrapped, saying HS2 has been integral to the economic development plans of Manchester and other parts of the north for the past 15 years.

Asked on GB News if he could take legal action he said: “All options would be on the table.”

He added: “We aren’t going to lie down and accept the way Whitehall has always treated the north of England.

“We are fighting back, we are getting organised…they will be hearing from us.”

Mr Sunak, who on Monday did nothing to quell fears he is preparing to either scrap or delay the leg, has told allies he is not prepared to watch the cost continue to rise, according to The Times.

The newspaper said he is concerned about a lack of cost controls and high salaries at the company overseeing the project after he was shown figures suggesting the overall price could top £100bn.

Mr Sunak is also said to be considering terminating the line in a west London suburb rather than in Euston, in the centre of the capital, to save money.

However, the possible downscaling of the project has been met with a fierce backlash from across the political spectrum.

Tory former chancellor George Osborne and ex-Conservative deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine were among grandees warning that scrapping the Manchester route would be a “gross act of vandalism” which would mean “abandoning” the North and Midlands.

Norman Baker, a former Lib Dem transport minister who signed off HS2 during the coalition government, called for an inquiry into the chaos of the project “to make sure it doesn’t happen again”.

The new US owners of Birmingham City football club joined a chorus of business criticism warning that limiting HS2 would damage confidence in government promises to deliver long-term plans.

It was initially thought a decision on HS2 would be made ahead of the Conservative Party conference this weekend, but the prime minister is reportedly going to delay an announcement until the autumn statement in November.

He could announce a string of regional transport improvements in an effort to limit the political fallout, reports suggested.

Esther McVey, the Conservative MP for Tatton in Cheshire and a long-standing critic of HS2, said she would prefer to see investment “go into the local infrastructure across the North” so that cities are better connected.

She told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme that HS2 is “sucking the money and the life out of our local transport”.

Ms McVey said: “Thank goodness that the prime minister is looking at HS2’s spiralling costs, because what might have been feasible at £37bn really is not at £120bn going northwards.

“Things have significantly changed since lockdown. People will now sooner jump on a Zoom to save time and money. So it’s the right thing to do and yes, stop it as soon as possible.”

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Europe’s crypto industry can ‘sleep better at night’ with new parliament

Published

6 hours ago

June 16, 2024

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Europe’s crypto industry can ‘sleep better at night’ with new parliament

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General election: Nigel Farage ‘terrorising’ Tories and Rishi Sunak too afraid, says Lord Mandelson

Published

9 hours ago

June 16, 2024

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Nigel Farage is “terrorising” the Conservative Party and Rishi Sunak is afraid to take him on, Labour grandee Lord Mandelson has told Sky News.

The former cabinet minister and spin-doctor, who masterminded Tony Blair’s 1997 landslide win, argued the job of the Tory leader should be to stand up to Mr Farage and Reform UK rather than seeking to appease them.

Trying to outflank Mr Farage had only served to embolden the maverick politician and make him stronger, the peer said as he appeared on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

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The decision of the former UKIP leader to contest a Tory-held seat at the election and take the reins at Reform UK has exacerbated Mr Sunak’s electoral woes, threatening to split the vote and the party.

Fresh polls gave an even bleaker outlook for the Conservatives, with one indicating the party on course to pick up just 72 seats.

A separate survey on Thursday night put Reform ahead of the Tories for the first time with 19% of the vote, compared with 18% for the Conservatives.

It led Mr Farage, who is set to launch Reform’s manifesto on Monday, declare his party was now the opposition to Labour.

Meanwhile, cabinet minister Mark Harper has repeated his party’s warning that a vote for Reform UK would give Labour “a very large majority” and a “blank cheque” in office.

As well as failing to distance himself from his predecessors – Boris Johnson and Liz Truss – Mr Sunak had made an error in vying to “outflank” Reform UK, argued Lord Mandelson.

The peer said: “He’s doing so by appeasing them, by sort of throwing red meat, to Farage, which is not outflanking him. It’s just making him bolder. It’s just making him, frankly, stronger than Sunak. And therefore the tactics, the strategy has been got wrong, in my view, by Sunak, right from the beginning.

“But I think the reason he doesn’t take on Farage is because he sees him as a stronger politician and frankly, he’s afraid to take him on.”

On Mr Farage himself, Lord Mandelson said: “I think he terrifies the Conservative Party. I mean, he terrified David Cameron into conceding a referendum on our membership of the European Union, and now he’s doing the same, to Sunak. He terrorises them.

“Now you, you’ve got to stand up to terrorists you know, in this world and including in, in British domestic politics.”

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He added: “But Farage is an effective politician. There’s no point in denying it. He has a clear message. It’s not one that I happen to agree with in any respect at all.

“I think that Farage is much better at, you know, taking people down and destroying things than he is in offering a constructive, clear alternative.

“But be that as it may, the job of the leader of the Conservative Party is to take that on and show an alternative to the right, not to appease it.”

He later clarified: “I’m not saying he’s literally a terrorist. I’m saying he’s terrorising the Conservative Party.”

Politics

General election: Nigel Farage ‘terrorising’ Tories and Rishi Sunak too afraid, says Lord Mandelson

Published

9 hours ago

June 16, 2024

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General election: Nigel Farage 'terrorising' Tories and Rishi Sunak too afraid, says Lord Mandelson

Nigel Farage is “terrorising” the Conservative Party and Rishi Sunak is afraid to take him on, Labour grandee Lord Mandelson has told Sky News.

Trying to outflank Mr Farage had only served to embolden the maverick politician and make him stronger, the peer said as he appeared on Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips.

Election latest

Fresh polls gave an even bleaker outlook for the Conservatives, with one indicating the party on course to pick up just 72 seats.

A separate survey on Thursday night put Reform ahead of the Tories for the first time with 19% of the vote, compared with 18% for the Conservatives.

It led Mr Farage, who is set to launch Reform’s manifesto on Monday, declare his party was now the opposition to Labour.

Meanwhile, cabinet minister Mark Harper has repeated his party’s warning that a vote for Reform UK would give Labour “a very large majority” and a “blank cheque” in office.

As well as failing to distance himself from his predecessors – Boris Johnson and Liz Truss – Mr Sunak had made an error in vying to “outflank” Reform UK, argued Lord Mandelson.

“But I think the reason he doesn’t take on Farage is because he sees him as a stronger politician and frankly, he’s afraid to take him on.”

“Now you, you’ve got to stand up to terrorists you know, in this world and including in, in British domestic politics.”

👉 Click here to follow Electoral Dysfunction wherever you get your podcasts 👈

He added: “But Farage is an effective politician. There’s no point in denying it. He has a clear message. It’s not one that I happen to agree with in any respect at all.

“I think that Farage is much better at, you know, taking people down and destroying things than he is in offering a constructive, clear alternative.

“But be that as it may, the job of the leader of the Conservative Party is to take that on and show an alternative to the right, not to appease it.”

He later clarified: “I’m not saying he’s literally a terrorist. I’m saying he’s terrorising the Conservative Party.”