Rishi Sunak is considering “alternative options” or “delaying” the Northern leg of HS2 to stop more taxpayers’ cash being wasted on the mega project.
The Prime Minister wants the “best value” solution amid warnings the cost of the entire high-speed rail project could spiral to £180 billion.
Mr Sunak has not yet taken a final decision on whether to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester railway. It has sparked a furious debate with political big-hitters clashing over the project’s future.
Former Conservative leader Lord Hague has warned HS2 is a “national disgrace” and should have been cancelled years ago.
But Boris Johnson, George Osborne and Lord Heseltine are among those who have warned against abandoning the long-standing plans.
Mr Sunak is being advised on HS2 by a long-standing critic of the project who has described the railway as the “greatest infrastructure mistake in half a century”.
Andrew Gilligan, who was hired earlier this year, is thought to have been an important figure behind the attempt to curtail the project.
Government insiders insist the Prime Minister is open to looking at alternatives, including delaying parts of the railway by seven years to reduce short-term costs.
A source said that if the northern leg of HS2 were scrapped, the value-for-money case for the project would fall away, leaving senior officials no choice but to register a formal objection.
“The PM is concerned that ditching the northern leg altogether is a short-term decision that would not provide long-term value to the taxpayer.”
He is now not expected to make a decision on the project until November’s Autumn statement.
Tensions over HS2 ratcheted up yesterday (Wed) as Labour mayors met in the north of England to discuss concerns about its fate.
Labour mayors Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin, Oliver Coppard and Steve Rotheram gathered in Leeds on Wednesday to issue a joint plea to the Prime Minister not to cut HS2 further.
The local politicians said that they were open to a “conversation” on the timetable for the project, but complained that the north of England was currently “in the dark” about the next steps.
Mr Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, warned that an adverse decision risked turning the North-South divide into a “canyon”.
“Do not pull the plug on this investment,” he warned.
“If they build this line, not even from central London but outer London through the Home Counties to the West Midlands, basically it will become a permanent symbol of the places that Whitehall cares about. It would be a huge message to the north of England that we just don’t feature in their thinking.”
Ahead of the meeting, the mayors issued a shared statement to express dismay at the prospect of the UK Government scrapping the rail project’s northern leg and warned that it would leave the north of England with “Victorian” transport infrastructure.
Sir Keir Starmer has faced questions about Labour’s own position on the fate of HS2 and whether it is fully committed to the current plans for the project.
Mr Khan said that the Opposition cannot “write a blank cheque for 18 months’ time”.
“What they’re right to do, though, is to join us in putting the Government’s feet to the fire in relation to confirming what their plans are for HS2. This uncertainty is no good for anybody,” he added.
The five mayors have together urged the Northern Powerhouse Rail project to be delivered in full to ensure “not only North-South but West-East connectivity between Liverpool and Hull, via Manchester Airport”, which they say must be a non-negotiable.
In October, the Government estimated the cost of the Manchester leg at up to £71 billion.
In June, it reported that £22.5 billion had already been spent on the initial leg to Birmingham, and approximately £2.3 billion had been allocated to subsequent phases, encompassing expenses related to both labour and land.
All these figures were calculated using 2019 prices, and they would have substantially increased due to inflation, reflecting rising costs of materials and wages.
