Boris Johnson slams Rishi Sunak over plans 'to scrap Birmingham to Manchester HS2 leg'

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

The government is set to axe the HS2 leg to Manchester, according to reports. The Conservative Government has in the last few days refused to deny it was considering axing the Birmingham to Manchester leg.

Reports have since emerged in the Times last night that yet another northern section of the long-awaited rail project will be chopped.

The plans have been slammed by former Conservative Prime Ministers, however. Boris Johnson said suggestions the Manchester route could be chopped over cost concerns were “desperate” and “Treasury-driven nonsense” as he urged Rishi Sunak to deliver on the 2019 levelling-up pledge the Conservatives were elected on. READ MORE: A new era begins for Greater Manchester's buses - with passengers in the driving seat David Cameron has also privately raised significant concerns about the prospect that the high-speed rail line could be heavily altered, according to The Times.

An ally quoted by the newspaper said it was “unusual” for the former prime minister, who resigned after the Brexit referendum result in 2016, to intervene in politics but felt HS2 was “different”. “He thinks it’s not only important in its own right — it’s central to levelling up — but also that it’s a totemic Conservative pledge,” the anonymous ally told The Times.