Levelling up? My a**e - Burnham

Image credit - HS2

A report in The Independent, followed up by the BBC, claims the the Prime Minister and the Chancellor are discussing cancelling the Birmingham - Manchester leg of HS2.

Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham's immediate reaction was.... colourful -

It’s coming up 10 years since Osborne’s “Northern Powerhouse” speech and the Tories are set to scrap the last of his rail pledges.

The result?

The southern half of England gets a modern rail system and the North left with Victorian infrastructure.

Levelling up?

My a**e.

1/2 https://t.co/6gD8bZ9nxa

— Andy Burnham (@AndyBurnhamGM) September 14, 2023

The CEO of the Northern Powerhouse Project offered a more considered response -

"Any decision to curtail this project any further would do serious damage to the government's relationship with the business community, both Northern-based and inward investors who have made long term investment decisions based on previous promises.

"Given that Phase 1, the most expensive bit of the route, is underway and the strongest cost-benefit ratios are found in the Northern sections, it makes no sense to stop now."

When asked by the BBC whether the Prime Minister was committed to the Manchester leg, a No. 10 spokesman offered an ambiguous "We are committed to HS2, the project." He did, however. confirm that ministers were looking at "rephasing" the project.

There is no guarantee that a change of government will salvage the project. Senior Labour figure Pat McFadden told the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg "We want to see what this costs and we'll make those decisions when it comes to the manifesto."

As Pcom has said before - welcome to the London-Birmingham shuttle.