Labour won't resurrect HS2 line to Manchester as 'Tories have blown the budget'
Keir Starmer has ruled out resurrecting the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester after it was torpedoed by the Tories.
The Labour leader said he won't reverse Rishi Sunak's decision to abandon the line, saying it is now "impossible" to go ahead. Mr Starmer blamed the Government for "blowing the budget" following October's announcement.
Rishi Sunak sparked an angry backlash after saying the project no longer made sense due to soaring costs. Cash from the doomed leg of the project is already being redistributed on transport infrastructure across the country - including pothole repair in London.
Mr Starmer told the Manchester Evening News that bringing back the Manchester leg of the line can't be done. He said: "The government has blown the budget, the contracts are being cancelled, the land may or may not be sold and I think that it's not fair for me to commit to something that I don't think is going to happen."
And asked whether he has ruled out bringing it back, he said: "Yes. It's not going to happen." Mr Starmer said that Labour is committed to building Northern Powerhouse Rail after years of Government flip-flopping.
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Mr Sunak was accused of betraying the North after announcing in his Tory Party Conference speech that the HS2 line linking London with Manchester and Leeds had been abandoned due to soaring costs and severe delays.
Last month the Department for Transport came under fire after bragging that Network North cash from scrapping the HS2 leg had been spent on London potholes. Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “'Network North' seems to include everywhere - except the North." West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said: "I know the North isn’t a priority for this govt but seriously…???"
This week it emerged that the line between the capital and Birmingham could now cost around £1,000 for every person in the UK - almost four times more than expected when the project was first put forward.
The cost of building HS2 between London and Birmingham has shot up by another £10billion - meaning it's nearly four times more expensive than the Tories first said. The bill for the section of high speed line may have soared to an estimated £66.6billion, the boss at HS2 Ltd told MPs.
This is nearly £30billion more than the Government said the entire line - which was also set to link with Manchester and Leeds before Mr Sunak torpedoed it in October - would cost in 2013.
When the project was first put forward, the London-to-Birmingham section was expected to cost £17.6billion. Sir Jon Thompson told the Transport Select Committee that adjusting for current prices involves "adding somewhere between £8billion and £10billion" to latest estimates - which are between £49billion and £56.6billion.
A DfT spokesperson said: “This Government is bearing down on the cost of HS2 and reviewing the scope of Phase One to deliver the line at the lowest reasonable price for taxpayers. We have already taken decisive action by cancelling Phase Two of HS2, reinvesting every penny of the £36bn saved in local transport projects that will benefit more people in more places, more quickly.”
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