Sunak sparks Tory civil war with scrapping of HS2 Manchester leg

Source: The Guardian

Sunak sparks Tory civil war with scrapping of HS2 Manchester leg

Tory leader’s attempt to portray himself as change candidate at party conference overshadowed by fierce criticism of U-turn

Pippa Crerar Political editor
@PippaCrerar
Wed 4 Oct 2023 19.57 BST
First published on Wed 4 Oct 2023 19.16 BST

Rishi Sunak unleashed a Tory civil war on Wednesday by announcing the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2 as the former prime minister David Cameron said the decision showed the country was heading in the wrong direction.

After days of frenzied speculation over the future of the flagship levelling-up project, Sunak confirmed he was axing the Birmingham to Manchester line and would use the £36bn of savings to fund a number of other transport schemes, described as “Network North”.

Cameron led a torrent of criticism of the announcement, which it emerged was made without consulting the cabinet, parliament, local councils or Network Rail, saying it passed up a once-in-a-generation opportunity.

“It will help to fuel the views of those who argue that we can no longer think or act for the long-term as a country; that we are heading in the wrong direction,” he warned.

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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2023/oct/04/sunak-sparks-tory-civil-war-with-scrapping-of-hs2-manchester-leg

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