Rishi Sunak will be speaking in Manchester today
Rishi Sunak is widely expected to announce he is axing the Birmingham to Manchester HS2 leg today after weeks of speculation. The Prime Minister - who yesterday said he would 'not be rushed into a premature decision'where trains will continue to Manchester on the existing West Coast Mainline track
"Is this any way to treat the city of Manchester and the people of Greater Manchester? I would say it's an appalling way for them to carry on." The HS2 scheme was given a budget of £55.7 billion in 2015 but costs have ballooned, with an estimate of up to £98 billion – in 2019 prices – in 2020. Since then, soaring inflation will have pushed costs even higher.
The PM will announce a '£30bn' spending plan to sort roads, buses and trains as he attempts to soften the blow, according to reports.Rishi Sunak is expected to criticise decades of politicians making 'the easy decision, not the right one' when he takes to the stage at the Conservative Party Conference.
In a convention centre built from a former railway station, Mr Sunak will reflect on his first year in No 10 and acknowledge a 'feeling that Westminster is a broken system'. He will accuse Labour - recording a consistently double-digit lead over the Conservatives – of failing to 'set out their stall' under Sir Keir Starmer and betting on voters' 'apathy'. And Mr Sunak will argue he is the reformer, saying: "Politicians spent more time campaigning for change than actually delivering it.
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