Scrapping of HS2

Any remaining pretence that Rishi and his government are interested in the North and levelling up ended today.
Don’t take my word for it. Boris Johnson, David Cameron and even his own chancellor agree.

The scrapping of HS2 north of Birmingham is a colossal failure of leadership. It will leave the North with a Victorian railway for generations to come.

£71 billion pounds wasted. People’s homes, lives and communities disrupted for nothing. This is unforgivable.

Rishi blames delays and spiralling costs. Wait until he finds out who was supposed to be overseeing those costs. First as chief secretary to the treasury, then as chancellor and now as prime minister. This failure is his failure.

HS2 would have doubled the capacity on our rail network. That would have been a huge opportunity for our regional and local economy in High Peak. Our quarries for example desperately need more rail freight capacity, as I learnt on recent visits. Scrapping HS2 means less productivity and no reduction in the congestion on our roads.

And the Tories needn’t think they can hoodwink us that they will deliver other infrastructure projects instead. No one will ever trust them again.