HS2: Wirral MPs react to Rishi Sunak's axing of northern leg

On Wednesday (October 4) Rishi Sunak told his party's conference in Manchester that he was axing the HS2 project from Birmingham to Manchester.

He said the HS2 project's costs had "more than doubled" but promised to use the £36 billion of savings to fund hundreds of other transport schemes.

He said: "I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed.

"And the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction."

Mr Sunak confirmed the scheme will run to Euston in central London, rather than terminating at Old Oak Common in the capital’s western suburbs, but promised to get a grip on the costs of the project.

He said the new plan for Euston will save £6.5 billion compared with HS2’s vision.

The construction site for the HS2 project at Euston in London. (Image: PA)

Since the announcement, the Prime Minster has faced criticism from his predecessors in Number 10 for losing a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” by cancelling the northern leg of HS2 and also received backlash from many Labour MPs, including Wirral's Mick Whitley MP and Alison McGovern MP.

'Rishi Sunak says we can’t do both, he’s wrong'

MP for Birkenhead, Mick Whitley, said in a statement: "Rishi Sunak’s decision to pull the plug on the northern leg of HS2 will come as no surprise to voters in Birkenhead and across the north who long ago saw this government’s 'levelling-up' agenda for what it is really is – an exercise in spin and nothing else.

"It’s telling that it’s communities in the north who are being expected to pay the price for the chronic mismanagement that has accompanied HS2 from the start, while London gets its guarantee that the line will still terminate at Euston.

"By way of compensation, all the Prime Minister has offered the north is more empty promises and non-commitments.

"Of the transport projects that Prime Minister touted as being in line to benefit from the billions redirected from HS2, some had been announced years ago, others will take decades to develop, others still have already been delayed by none other than Rishi Sunak himself.

"All are liable to be tossed on the scrap heap the first moment a Tory Chancellor considers it expedient.

"Birkenhead and towns like it across the north and the midlands deserve both improved transport connectivity east to west and across and within our regions, as well as the delivery of HS2 in full.

"Rishi Sunak says we can’t do both. He’s wrong. At the last election, my party promised to unlock £97 billion of economic potential in the north with a long-term investment plan for transport connectivity in the north and the completion of the full HS2 route to Scotland. Ahead of the next election, my party must renew that pledge.”

'They have let us down'

MP for Wirral South, Alison McGovern added: "Given the failures of the past 13 years, on the Wrexham-Bidston line, in decimating our buses, and now with this latest massive U-turn on HS2, I won't be taking anything the Tories say on public transport at face value.

"They have let us down. The link to Crewe was vital for us in Merseyside. In contrast, Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram is delivering new trains for the Wirral and is pushing forward for a bus service that puts people first.

"Only Labour in government can get us the public transport we need for a prosperous and green Wirral peninsula."

'What we’re doing is going to be better for our country'

In an interview recorded after his Tory conference speech and broadcast on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday, the Prime Minister was asked whether he would apologise for the Conservative Party’s “false promises” made to northerners over many years.

Mr Sunak replied: “No. What I want to say to everybody is that what we’re doing is going to be better for our country.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers his keynote speech at the Conservative Party annual conference at Manchester Central convention complex. (Image: PA)

“You keep using the word scrap, but what we’re doing is replacing HS2 with something that’s going to benefit far more people in far more places and far quicker.

“Every penny that would have been spent on this project, £36 billion, is going to be reinvested in every form of transportation, not just heavy rail and in every part of our country.”