Prime Minister Rishi Sunak used his address at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester today to announce the cancellation of the contentious HS2 line from Birmingham to Manchester, while criticising the Labour leader and committing to reshaping British politics.
In a speech that challenged political norms, Mr. Sunak labelled HS2 as the “ultimate example of the old consensus” and criticised opposition leader Sir Keir Starmer for being ensnared in the political status quo.
Mr. Sunak said that “the economic case has been massively weakened” for HS2 and that “the courage to change direction” was needed when the “facts change.”
He also announced that the HS2 team would no longer be running the Euston end of the project, instead creating a new “Euston development zone.”
Mr. Sunak added, “There must be some accountability for the mistakes made, for the mismanagement of this project.”
The prime minister committed to reinvesting the £36 billion budgeted for HS2 in transport projects across the north and the Midlands, via a new project called Network North, comprising “hundreds” of schemes.
PM Attacks Labour’s Brexit Plans
In what may be seen as another appeal primarily to Red Wall voters, Mr. Sunak affirmed the UK’s commitment to Brexit, emphasising the nation’s growth outpacing France and Germany post-Brexit, “not despite Brexit, because of it.”Mr. Sunak said, “We must keep making the case for taking back control because if we don’t our opponents will try and neuter this change, to align us with the European Union so that we never seize the full opportunities of Brexit.”
Attacking Mr. Starmer’s plan to align more closely with the EU, Mr. Sunak added, “We know where Keir Starmer’s heart lies on this issue and we know we can’t trust him either.”
He added that Mr. Starmer “is the walking definition of the 30-year political status quo that I am here to end.”
Mr. Sunak will face backlash in some quarters for his decision to end the HS2 project, which has been the subject of regular political contention for well over a decade, since its inception in 2009.
Mayor of the West Midlands, Andy Street, took to X, formerly known as Twitter, on Tuesday, saying, “I wasn’t expecting this in Manchester, but I won’t let HS2 go without a fight.”
Today the prime minister indicated that he would be helping Mr. Street “to extend the West Midlands metro,” in an attempt to show good will towards the mayor.
‘What the North Really Needs’
Mr. Sunak said, “I challenge anyone to tell me with a straight face that that isn’t what the north really needs.”The HS2 line will still be completed to run from Euston to Birmingham and trains will still run to Manchester, but the promised new high-speed extension will no longer be built. Mr. Sunak promised “record investment” via Network North to ensure that the rest of the north of England would be better connected.
Mr. Sunak’s decision reflected a wider determination in his speech to lead differently, emphasising his desire to depart from exhausted political ideologies and confront “vested interests.”
His promise to fundamentally change the country, he claimed, echoed a sentiment shared by many disillusioned voters, yearning for a fresh political landscape.
He added that across the country, there is “a feeling that politics just doesn’t work the way it should,” adding, “It isn’t anger, it’s an exhaustion with politics.”
As well as announcing considerable reforms to education, health care, and immigration policy, Mr. Sunak also announced proposals for a phased raising of the legal age of smoking in the UK.
His vision for a transformed Britain, where politics serves the public’s needs and aspirations, struck a chord with many in the Tory conference hall but will raise a new challenge for the prime minister to deliver on his word in an already fractious build up to the anticipated general election in 2024.
