Government faces growing backlash over plans to scrap HS2 Manchester leg

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is facing a furious backlash from senior Conservatives and business chiefs over plans to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2.

An announcement was expected before the Tory Party Conference, taking place at Manchester Central – fittingly a conference centre in an abandoned Manchester railway station – but is now thought to have been delayed until the autumn statement in November. The move would essentially also scupper plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR).

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, led by George Osborne and the former Treasury minister Jim O’Neill, said major investment decisions had been made on the basis of HS2 and NPR and that the uncertainty was “wreaking huge damage on business confidence and inward investment”.

Bev Craig, the leader of Manchester city council, said, “It’s the final nail in the coffin for levelling up if they scrap or significantly delay the programme.

“There’s nothing else going through parliament, there’s nothing else on the books, that meaningfully allocates resource to the north in the way that this does. If they scrap this, it’s effectively the end of any claims of levelling up.”

Transport for the North (TfN) also reaffirmed its position that both HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail projects are critical to the economy of the region and that any further delay will cost the national economy and fail to address the poor connectivity that has held the North back for decades.

Transport for the North Chair and former Conservative Transport Secretary Lord McLoughlin, said, “The Northern leaders have spoken with one voice. We need HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail built in full if we are to realise the full potential of the North and to level up our national economy. Let us not delay.”

But voices of dissent are not just from the north. London Mayor Sadiq Khan attended TfN’s recent board meeting in Leeds and backed the call by the region’s political and business leaders. He further added “success of the North is crucial to London’s success.”

And a letter sent to the Prime Minister by leading West Midlands businesses, including Birmingham airport, said cutting HS2 would be an “appalling dereliction of responsibility”.

Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson said scaling back the railway would be “nonsense”.

Cabinet minister Lucy Frazer responded that the Prime Minister and Chancellor would “listen to a wide variety of voices”, but that it was “the responsibility of the government to keep all projects under consideration” and the Chancellor is “looking at a whole range of projects to make sure that they are value for money”.

Another former Transport Secretary and the current Defence Secretary Grant Shapps added it would be “crazy” not to review the plans which had increased in costs because of inflation and the war in Ukraine.