There’s A Possibility That Stage 2 Of HS2 Could Be Scrapped

Rishi Sunak is facing widespread outrage amid claims that the second phase of the controversial HS2 high-speed rail line could be axed to save money.

Ministers have already poured £2.3 billion into the Birmingham to Manchester Phase 2 of the massively over-budget project.

But Rishi Sunak and Jeremy Hunt are said to have been told that scrapping it now even at this late phase would save a further £34 billion, money the Chancellor could use elsewhere in his Budget this November.

The Prime Minister’s spokesman refused to confirm that the scheme would eventually reach Manchester. He declined to comment on ‘speculation’ but said the Government was committed to the project as a whole.

The troubled project has been the target of much outrage from environmentalists and Tory backbenchers, with the first stage carving a new route through leafy Middle England.

Earlier this year ministers shelved the development of a central London terminus at Euston under the Phase 1 scheme which links London and Birmingham, instead ending journeys in the suburbs to save money.

The idea that Phase 2, which is divided into two parts, may be binned, first reported by the Independent, has left critics questioning whether it was worth all the cost and the political and environmental damage so far.

Tory MP Michael Fabricant said scrapping Phase 2 would be sensible and would protect rural areas north of his Litchfield constituency, where Phase 1 will join the current West Coast mainline.

He told a newspaper outlet that lovely places south of us were currently being wrecked by HS2, adding that not only would it save £60 billion by the time it’s all finished, but it would also mean you could run a train at about 125mph from Manchester (on the existing line) then it would speed up when it got to the HS2 stretch, which is north of Birmingham anyway.

He criticised the impact of the building programme at Prime Minister’s Questions, saying ending work after Phase 1 could save other constituencies where work is yet to start.

Tory MP Greg Smith, whose Buckinghamshire constituency has been blighted by building work for the scheme, called HS2 to be scrapped. Although £20 billion has been spent so far for the London to Birmingham leg, known as Phase 1, Greg Smith quoted figures compiled by Labour peer Lord Berkeley that suggested losses could be lowered to £8 billion if the land acquired was resold.

This was all a waste of money just to knock a little time off someone’s travel.

They should also knock back 10 billion off foreign aid. Stop spending millions on invaders and cancel HS2.

This has to be the biggest white elephant ever built, and if we’re going to judge the Tories on nothing else, it should be this because the cavalier attitude towards public money is a complete disgrace.

This country never seems to be able to actually build or deliver anything anymore. Our schools, hospitals, and even our government buildings seem to be crumbling around our ears, and the cost of living is incapacitating us.

We don’t own any of our essential infrastructure to deliver energy, water et cetera, and we can’t seem to build a railway line despite throwing billions into it. We can’t even deliver working or reliable navy, army or air force equipment. All we seem to be capable of is giving money to those who don’t even pay a penny into our government coffers, be it foreign aid, or migrants, and this is how our country has become such an utter mess in the last 30 years.