The chair of an influential group of Conservative MPs including many from northern constituencies has signalled they may be open to a compromise that would see the second phase of HS2 delayed for several years.
Amid continuing lobbying of Downing Street by opponents of the multimillion scheme and supporters fighting to preserve it, the Northern Research Group of Tory MPs appear willing to back a lengthy delay to the Birmingham-Manchester leg if a so-called “Charles line” connecting northern cities is preserved.
“At the end of the day, we think HS2 is important for the country,” said John Stevenson, chair of the NRG – founded by Tory MPs for constituencies in northern England, Wales and the Scottish borders after the 2019 general election. “But our east-west connectivity, I think, would be a higher priority.”
Government sources briefed the Times on Monday that the prime minister may offer to fund a new underground rail station in Manchester as part of a package of transport investment in the north aimed at winning the support of Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of greater Manchester.
Such a compromise would mean phase 2 – taking in a Birmingham to Manchester leg – would be delayed by up to seven years.
Stevenson argued that the legislation underpinning HS2 should still continue to go through parliament so that it is in place, adding: “If economic circumstances were to change then you could go ahead with that further leg.”
Referring to the legislation that is regarded by others – including Burnham – as being at the core of a new east-west line in northern England called Northern Powerhouse Rail, he said: “What we do not want to see, however, is the legislation falling that would prevent the Charles line going ahead. The legislation is absolutely vital for that to happen.”
Burnham, meanwhile, suggested he would consider taking legal action if the government abandons plans for building the link to Manchester.
“All options would absolutely be on the table and I’ve written to the prime minister,” he told GB News. “Not to consult us and not even to let us put the case – all options would definitely be on the table.”
Speculation continued about whether any decision on HS2 had been put off until after the Conservative conference in Manchester, where party strategists are acutely aware of the optics of Rishi Sunak announcing a shutdown of a line projected to go to the city.
However, in early morning broadcast interviews a minister said Sunak was reviewing how the cost of HS2 can be “controlled”, as he warned the price tag of the rail project has “roughly tripled” since its conception.
The Home Office minister Chris Philp insisted on Tuesday that no decision has been made on whether to axe or delay the rail project’s northern leg amid widespread criticism.
Reports have suggested that Sunak has been warned the price tag may have soared past £100bn, even though the government has already scrapped the Leeds leg.
The former Conservative leader William Hague said that HS2 has been “terribly badly managed” and is a “national disgrace”, telling Times Radio: “It should have been cancelled a few years ago when it was clear that the whole thing was out of control:”
But now that so much has been built, he said there is a “genuine dilemma” over whether it should go ahead “to at least complete and make sense of the parts that we can still do”, he added.
