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

Published

2 years 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.”

Politics

MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

Published

8 hours ago

July 3, 2025

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MP Zarah Sultana who was ousted from Labour announces she is starting new political party with Jeremy Corbyn

An MP who was ousted from the Labour Party has announced she is setting up a new political party with Jeremy Corbyn.

Independent MP Zarah Sultana said she and the former Labour leader will co-lead the new party, which she did not provide a name for.

She said other independent MPs, campaigners and activists from across the country will join them, but did not name anyone.

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Ms Sultana also said she was “resigning” from the Labour Party after 14 years.

She was suspended as a Labour MP shortly after they came to power last summer for voting against the government maintaining the two-child benefit cap.

Several others from the left of the party, including Mr Corbyn, were also suspended for voting against the government, and also remained as independent MPs.

However, Ms Sultana was still a member of the Labour Party – until now.

Mr Corbyn has previously said the independent MPs who were suspended from Labour would “come together” to provide an “alternative.

The other four are: Iqbal Mohamed, Shockat Adam, Ayoub Khan and Adnan Hussain.

Mr Corbyn and the other four independents have not said if they are part of the new party Ms Sultana announced.

In her announcement, Ms Sultana said she would vote to abolish the two-child benefit cap again and also voted against scrapping the winter fuel payment for most pensioners.

Ms Sultana also voted against the government’s welfare bill this week, which was heavily watered down as Sir Keir Starmer tried to prevent a major rebellion from his own MPs.

On Wednesday, Ms Sultana spoke passionately against Palestine Action being proscribed as a terror organisation – but MPs eventually voted for it to be.

She said to proscribe it is “a deliberate distortion of the law to chill dissent, criminalise solidarity and suppress the truth”.

Ms Sultana said they were founding the new party because “Westminster is broken but the real crisis is deeper – just 50 families now own more wealth than half the UK population”.

She called Reform leader Nigel Farage “a billionaire-backed grifter” leading the polls “because Labour has completely failed to improve people’s lives.

The MP, who has spoken passionately about Gaza, added: “Across the political establishment, from Farage to Starmer, they smear people of conscience trying to stop a genocide in Gaza as terrorists.

“But the truth is clear: this government is an active participant in genocide. And the British people oppose it.

“We are not going to take this anymore.”

A Labour Party spokesperson said: “In just 12 months, this Labour government has boosted wages, delivered an extra four million NHS appointments, opened 750 free breakfast clubs, secured three trade deals and four interest rate cuts lowering mortgage payments for millions.

“Only Labour can deliver the change needed to renew Britain.”