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<\/p>\nScrapping the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 would be a ‘gross act of vandalism’ and an ‘act of economic self-harm’, George Osborne has said.<\/p>\n
In an article for the Times newspaper with Tory grandee Lord Heseltine, the former Chancellor warned the Prime Minister about damaging Britain’s reputation and protecting his own legacy.<\/p>\n
He wrote: ‘Governments are remembered for what they build and create. Make this mistake, and yours may only be known for what it cancelled and curtailed.’<\/p>\n
Citing Boris Johnson’s winning message in the 2019 election, they added: ‘How could ever again claim to be levelling up when you cancel the biggest levelling-up project in the country?’<\/p>\n
The former Chancellor’s intervention comes as ministers are due to make a decision on the northern leg this week.<\/p>\n
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The former Chancellor’s intervention comes as ministers are due to make a decision on the northern leg this week<\/p>\n
Defence Secretary Grant Shapps said it would be ‘crazy’ not to review HS2 yesterday as the Government looks set to axe the high-speed rail project’s northern leg within days.<\/p>\n
If all had gone to plan, Britain would be just two and a half years away from high-speed trains whizzing between London and Birmingham, cutting travel times by around 30 minutes.<\/p>\n
Construction workers should now be putting the finishing touches to one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects the world has seen: HS2.<\/p>\n
Instead, completion has been pushed from 2026 to 2029-33, the budget has risen from \u00a337.5billion to \u00a398billion and the chorus of public disapproval is deafening.<\/p>\n
Now the Prime Minister is reportedly so spooked by an \u00a38billion jump in costs to complete the line to Birmingham that he is set to axe the Manchester leg. Last week, the Mail sent a drone along the entire length of HS2. Photographs show many major points are still construction sites in their early stages.<\/p>\n
Phil Marsh, who has worked in railway administration for 50 years, said: ‘These pictures show what a massive infrastructure project HS2 is and how dreadful it looks at the moment. There are earthworks, concrete mixers and haul roads on a vast magnitude, which creates a huge environmental and societal impact on our densely compacted country.’<\/p>\n
Costs have spiralled, Mr Marsh said, due to the number of changes made. ‘Every time specifications are slightly altered, insiders tell me that contractors are basically sticking another million pounds in their back pockets.<\/p>\n
‘If all this is for 30 minutes off the journey from London to Birmingham, it would be a complete waste of money.’<\/p>\n
Downing Street sources insisted no decision has yet been made. But an announcement on whether to scrap the line from Birmingham to Manchester is expected imminently.<\/p>\n
It is likely to come ahead of the Conservative Party conference, which will be held in Manchester, starting this weekend. Mr Shapps, a former transport secretary, warned yesterday that the Government could not write an ‘open-ended cheque’ if costs were ‘inexorably going higher and higher’.<\/p>\n
He suggested it would be ‘crazy’ not to have another look at the scheme after inflation spiralled following the outbreak of war in Ukraine and in the wake of the pandemic. ‘I think the sequencing of what happens next is a perfectly legitimate question,’ he said.<\/p>\n
He told the BBC: ‘We have seen the costs accelerate a lot. Of course, inflation has been part of that.<\/p>\n
‘There are various different estimates and I think that’s one of the things that the Government wants to check, particularly on the costs now post the inflationary picture out of the war in Ukraine.<\/p>\n
‘I have to say that it would be irresponsible to simply spend the money, carry on as if nothing had changed, if there has been a change in that fiscal picture.’<\/p>\n
Former prime minister Boris Johnson has warned against ‘mutilating’ the line, while David Cameron is also said to have privately raised concerns.<\/p>\n
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt \u2013 who has admitted that the cost of the scheme is ‘out of control’ \u2013 are said to be meeting to discuss whether to scrap the northern leg of HS2 in the coming days.<\/p>\n
While an announcement on the HS2’s northern leg is thought to be within days, it may also be a matter of weeks off as it is thought ministers could wait for November’s Autumn Statement. Officials expect the upper estimate of building the initial London to Birmingham stretch of the line to rise by more than \u00a38billion from the \u00a345billion published in June 2022, The Sunday Telegraph reported.<\/p>\n
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has written to the Prime Minister about the fate of HS2, warning that the project could end up being a ‘colossal waste of public money’ if the northern leg is scrapped and it does not go all the way into central London.<\/p>\n
When the railway first opens between London and Birmingham, expected between 2029 and 2033, its terminus will be at Old Oak Common in the western suburbs of the capital.<\/p>\n
HS2 trains are not expected to run on to London Euston until around 2041. And there are now doubts the central London extension will ever go ahead. Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Greater Manchester, said people in the North of England are treated like ‘second-class citizens’ by having to face a choice between HS2 and a cross-Pennine East to West route.<\/p>\n
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt are expected to decide in the coming days whether to axe the second phase of the high-speed line. A graphic of the line and each phase is pictured<\/p>\n
Labour has refused to confirm it would fund the line to Manchester if the Tories axe it, despite pressure from Mr Burnham.<\/p>\n
Shadow Treasury chief secretary Darren Jones refused to set out Labour’s commitment to the full HS2 project yesterday, saying the party needed more information. He added that Labour ‘would love to see HS2 built’ \u2013 including the connection to Leeds which was scrapped in 2021. But he told the BBC: ‘We, the Labour Party, hope to be in government next year.<\/p>\n
‘We’re not going to make decisions about national infrastructure projects that involve tens of billions of pounds without all of the information being available.’<\/p>\n
Meanwhile Kieran Mullan, the Tory MP for Crewe and Nantwich, urged the Government to continue with the project. He said: ‘We all agree levelling up is desperately needed. London has bounced back from the pandemic more quickly than anywhere else and the gap is only expected to get bigger.<\/p>\n
‘HS2 might not be perfect but it is already helping close that gap in Birmingham and the North.’<\/p>\n