Northern Leaders Call on Government Not to Cut HS2 Further

Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham speaks to the media outside the Central Library in Manchester on October 15, 2020. (Photo by Martin Rickett-Pool/Getty Images)

Five Labour mayors have called on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to deliver on the high-speed railway (HS2), amid concerns that the project’s north leg will be scrapped by the government.

Mayors Sadiq Khan, Andy Burnham, Tracy Brabin, Oliver Coppard and Steve Rotheram are travelling to Leeds on Wednesday to issue a joint statement and ask the prime minister not to cut the HS2 further.

Ahead of the meeting, the leaders wrote a letter to Mr. Sunak, reminding the government of its commitment to deliver the HS2 and the Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) lines across the northern regions.

“Failure to deliver HS2 and NPR will leave swathes of the north with Victorian transport infrastructure that is unfit for purpose and cause huge economic damage in London and the south, where construction of the line has already begun,” the letter said.

‘Act of Economic Vandalism’

Speculation is rife over whether the leg of HS2 connecting Birmingham to Manchester may be scrapped or delayed in the near future due to escalating costs.

On Tuesday, Home Office minister Chris Philp said the prime minister and chancellor Jeremy Hunt were looking into “controlling” the costs of HS2. He added that no decision has been made on scrapping or delaying the northern leg of the project.

The HS2 was initially planned to link London and the West Midlands, later extending the route to cities in the north.

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The stretch from the Old Oak Common station in west London to Birmingham in West Midlands is part of the first phase of the HS2 project. Due to delays, it is expected to be operational between 2029 and 2033, instead of the initial 2026 deadline.

The northern leaders argued that the UK “does not need a new line that only goes from Birmingham to Old Oak Common, which is six miles from central London.”

“Birmingham does not want this. London does not want this. It does nothing for the North of England,” said London mayor Sadiq Khan.

All the gains for Leeds, Sheffield, Manchester and Birmingham from the full Y-shaped HS2 project will be lost, should Whitehall backtrack on the initial plan, according to the mayors’ statement.

Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to say that it would be an “act of economic vandalism” to not follow through with the HS2.

“To renege on the commitment to the northern part of HS2 would damage jobs, investment, confidence and infrastructure. Quite frankly, it would tear up any notion that this government is committed to levelling up,” Ms. Brabin said.

The Conservative Party’s wide-ranging “levelling up” policy aims to reduce geographic economic, social and health inequalities across the country. Improving transport connectivity outside London is one of the policy’s main objectives.

Negotiation

Although opposed to the scrapping the HS2 project, the leaders in Greater Manchester said they would be willing to discuss northern leg delays, if Downing Street commits to building an east-west route.

Mayor Andy Burnham and Manchester City council leader Bev Craig said they could be open to a discussion about prioritising the Northern section of the line, between Manchester Airport and Manchester Piccadilly. This would enable the NPR to be built first, they said.

Mr. Burnham and Ms. Craig argued that the north of England should not be forced to choose between new north-south and east-west rail infrastructure “in the same way that London hasn’t been forced [to make] such a choice.”

Mr. Philp rejected the idea that the people of Manchester were treated by the government as “second-class citizens.”

He insisted that Whitehall’s commitment to the Midlands, the North, and the levelling up agenda was “absolutely undimmed.” The prime minister and the chancellor need to scrutinise the costs, he added.

The estimated cost of the Manchester leg, reported in October, was up to £71 billion. In June, the government said that 22.5 billion had already been spent on the initial leg to Birmingham. Another £2.3 billion had been allocated to subsequent phases of the HS2.

The figures were calculated using 2019 prices, which would have been negatively affected by the current higher level of inflation.