Rishi Sunak refuses to decide to HS2 Manchester route
Speculation has risen over the project’s future after reports suggested its costs have breached the £100billion mark, even with the Leeds factor being binned in 2021.
As the Tory Party Conference kicks off in Manchester, the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg referenced critics similar to mayor of West Midlands, Andy Street who has warned the UK is turning into a “laughing stock” over the unsure way forward for the rail hyperlink throughout an interview on Sunday.
In response, the Prime Minister mentioned: “I’d completely reject that.
“I speak to business leaders all the time. I’ve just been around the world, I’ve recently been in Japan, in America, in Europe, we’re attracting billions of pounds of investment into this country, creating jobs everywhere.
“That’s what I hear from business leaders around the world, they’re excited about the opportunity that investing in Britain offers.”
HS2 was in 2015 given a £55.7billion funds for its route from London to Birmingham with a Y-shaped part to Manchester and Leeds.
Delays and rising prices have now thrown the venture into jeopardy, sparking calls from three former Prime Ministers to make sure the project is linked to Manchester.
Asked throughout a Q&A at Henley Literary Festival whether or not HS2 must be scrapped, Theresa May mentioned: “The answer is no.
“I will give you two comments on HS2. First of all, we have to think about why HS2 was designed in the first place.
“It was because there was a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line.
“So if there is a lack of capacity on the West Coast Main Line, we need more railway capacity to serve the North West.”
She mentioned there was additionally a difficulty for her constituents if the road doesn’t find yourself terminating in Euston, in central London.
“If HS2 stops at Old Oak Common, it is going to make our railway journeys into London longer and disrupted potentially over the period that Old Oak Common’s building is being done to enable it to take that end point,” she added.
“So I am arguing with Government: ‘Don’t stop at Old Oak Common. You need to take it into Euston because my constituents will be disadvantaged if you don’t’.”
Boris Johnson expanded on his issues in his Daily Mail column on Saturday, arguing the Tory Government could be “betraying the north of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up” if HS2 to Manchester is delayed or lower.
On Saturday, however, Transport Secretary Mark Harper refused to be drawn on the projects future.
Mr Harper instructed Times Radio that “spades are in the ground” on Phase 1 of HS2 between London and Birmingham however mentioned he was “not going to comment” on “speculation in the media” in regards to the line probably stopping within the Midlands.
“If the Government has anything to say, we’ll say that in the usual way in due course,” he added.