The Prime Minister has scrapped the northern leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester.
Rishi Sunak made the announcement in his speech to the Conservative Party Conference. He instead said the Government would invest in other transport projects across the country.
But the decision has been met with strong criticism from business and local leaders across the North West and West Midlands.
The PM said: “No government has ever developed a more ambitious scheme for northern transport than our new Network North.
READ MORE: HS2: What is it, how much has it cost and how have the plans changed?
READ MORE: HS2: Timeline of controversial project since plans emerged in 2009
“This is the right way to drive growth and spread opportunity across our country, to level up.”
Below, BusinessLive will bring you the very latest reaction to the announcement.
Clarity needed says lawyer
Michelle Craven-Faulkner, partner and rail lead at Shoosmiths, said: “HS2 was never just about getting to London faster. Its aim was increasing connectivity, capacity and creating a high-speed rail spine in the UK – providing the infrastructure for routes to spur off and deliver the east-to-west connectivity raised in today’s announcement.
“The decision to scrap the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 will have consequences. Jobs could be lost and businesses impacted. Construction on this part of the network may be less advanced but there are firms involved and working on the project. That’s even before considering the long-term effect this could have on the freight industry or the investment decisions – globally and domestically - that have been made on the basis of the route being delivered.
“HS2 has dominated the political, media and social discourse in recent days. It is, however, critical that all parties understand that this isn’t the only hurdle facing the rail industry.
“Those working in the sector and the supply chain have been provided with little clarity over the last few years – navigating almost constant changes in policy, beginning with the Integrated Rail Plan for the North and Midlands, the gradual chipping away of HS2 and the proposed shift to Great British Railways – the future of which is hanging in the balance.
“What is needed now is some transparency as to when and how the proposed projects will be delivered and what is the pipeline. Without that, the UK rail industry is still in the dark.”
Campaign group feels 'vindicated'
Unsurprisngly, campaigners at Stop HS2 are delighted with today's news
Oh my God! It seems Rishi Sunak did his research on our website. We believe the word is "vindicated", as a Prime Minister seems to have just agreed with pretty much everything we've been saying for thirteen years. If only they'd listened back then.... #HS2 #StopHS2 #CPC23
— Stop HS2 (@stophs2) October 4, 2023
'London-bound services will still clog up the existing platforms and railways'
By scrapping both northern legs of #HS2, the Tories have stripped the North of new rail capacity in Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield. London-bound services will still clog up the existing platforms and railways, with no room for new local services and freight. #NeverTrustATory https://t.co/QhSfxvplfs
— Greens for HS2 (@Greens4HS2) October 4, 2023
Andy Street: 'I have decided not to resign'
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has just released a statement with his reflections on today's announcement
Reflections on today’s announcement pic.twitter.com/MjMMrlEbcI
— Andy Street (@andy4wm) October 4, 2023
Street to stay
West Midlands Mayor Andy Street has told the BBC he is disappointed but he will stay in post and feels today's announcements on transport are a good compromise
Full statement from High Speed Rail Group
Spoiler alert...it isn't happy!!
Giant #HS2 u-turn makes Birmingham Britain's biggest bottleneck.
— High Speed Rail Group (@HSRailGroup) October 4, 2023
Our statement on today's announcement: pic.twitter.com/VLHaMJ1cCw
The architect of HS2 highlighted passenger trends ahead of the PM's speech
Rail travel increased in 7 of last 8 quarters & now approaches pre pandemic level. And the population of Britain’s 3 largest cities - the route of HS2 - are all rising. The “long term decision for a brighter future” is to complete HS2, two-thirds of which is under construction pic.twitter.com/YoEzVisywH
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) October 4, 2023
'Lessons must now be learned' for land and property owners
Jon Stott is group managing director of Ardent, a property and consent management practice and a former chair of the Compulsory Purchase Association. e said lessons must now be learned after hundreds of property owners had been left out of pocket after the northern leg of HS2 was cancelled.
"This will have a massive impact on the UK's reputation as a place to invest and no amount of spin can underplay the damage the decision does to the north/south levelling-up agenda.
"Aside from the macro factors, today's decision is also a travesty for so many individuals and businesses and it raises huge questions about how we protect landowners and property owners whose land is earmarked to be acquired for major projects in the future.
"The statutory blight provisions are very narrow and mean that only owner-occupiers of property in certain circumstances can force the Government to acquire their land/property once it has been identified as potentially being required for a major scheme.
"HS2 introduced various discretionary hardship schemes that did help some additional people but still left many landowners and developers without any ability to sell their property, leaving them in a horrible state of limbo whilst their land has also been subject to safeguarding directions"
HS2 cancellation 'could hit Cheshire economy by £2bn'
A spokesperson for Cheshire and Warrington Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) said: “The decision to cancel HS2 is a major blow for Cheshire and Warrington, costing its economy £2bn a year.
“HS2 would have had a transformational impact across Cheshire and Warrington, creating 27,000 new jobs, delivering 6 million sq. ft of new commercial floor space and 25,000 new homes and a catalyst for the LEP’s unwavering ambition to deliver a growing, sustainable, healthy and inclusive economy.
“The decision will mean the sub-region fails to realise the potential HS2 offered to unlock significant housing, employment and productivity gains.
“We will now be seeking more detail and looking carefully at the Prime Minister’s promise to recycle the £36bn that he says will be saved from HS2 and how the projects he announced will help Cheshire and Warrington.
“Crewe was anticipating a £750m increase per annum in GVA from HS2 and we will want to understand what projects the government is proposing that will replace this loss.
“Committing to investment in major infrastructure pays dividends. Whilst large-scale projects will always be challenging to deliver, they bring significant long-term economic benefits.
“Investment in rail and taking freight off our roads is necessary to help achieve our carbon reduction targets."
'Biggest rail cut since Beeching' - GMB
Laurence Turner, head of research and policy at trade union GMB, said:
Rishi Sunak's decision to inflict the biggest rail cut since the Beeching axe will send a shockwave through the construction industry and railway supply chain, costing hundreds of jobs. The UK's political instability was already holding the economy back - it will now be even harder to fund and deliver the new infrastructure that the country desperately needs. We can't rebalance the economy or fix the railway capacity crisis without HS2. It's essential that the planned route is now protected so that a future government can reverse this disastrous decision.
'Ministers were warned'
Joe Ventre, digital campaign manager of the TaxPayers' Alliance, said ministers were warned from the get-go that the cost of HS2 would spiral out of control:
The Prime Minister is right to refocus taxpayers' money on improving transport links on road and rail all over the country, as we recommended in 2019. Ministers now need to ease the pressure on taxpayers by ensuring that the rocketing cost of what’s left of HS2 is brought back down to Earth.
Tech boss says HS2 decision is an opportunity missed
Katie Gallagher, MD of Manchester Digital and chair of the UK Tech Cluster Group, said: “We are saddened but not surprised that the Prime Minister has now confirmed that HS2 will not continue to Manchester as it was originally planned. This was a real opportunity to create modern high speed rail links, free up capacity on our creaking infrastructure and improve regional services across the North.
“The North of England is getting used to empty promises, plans being dropped and changed and more wasted public funds. The promised upgrades to the TransPennine route were delayed and altered, Northern Powerhouse rail was scaled back and the expansion of Piccadilly station in Manchester was cancelled.
“We are waiting for more details on this suddenly-announced Network North and have many questions. For example, is this a newly packaged Northern Powerhouse rail?
“It’s hard not to believe that Network North isn’t just another empty promise.”
Rishi Sunak has 'levelled down' the East Midlands by scrapping HS2
Business leaders say the East Midlands is being "levelled down", not up, under Rishi Sunak's decision to scrap HS2 north of Birmingham. Read all the reaction here
PM's speech was 'short on practical reality'
Henrietta Brealey, chief executive of Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, said Sunak's speech was "full of big promises" but short on the practical reality of what the cancellation actually means.
"No phase two means no enhanced capacity for passengers or freight between Birmingham and Manchester," she said.
"A huge amount of cost and disruption has already been incurred to prepare for phase two. Many projects, including some of those he highlighted, are predicated on the arrival of HS2. Faith in the government to deliver on the long-term investments this country needs to grow has been hugely damaged.
"It is time for the Prime Minister to be transparent on the costs of scrapping HS2 phase two and how long it'll be before any of the projects he listed come to fruition, given that these savings won't become a reality until the 2030s.
"All we really have right now are short-term cuts and long term questions."
HS2 decision 'will damage Britain's credibility'
Think tank the Institute for Public Policy Research says the repeated changes to HS2 will undermine confidence in Britain's transport and infrastructure.
The IPPR's analysis shows that if the North had received the same transport investment as London over the last decade, it would have received £86bn more.
Zoë Billingham, director of IPPR North, said: “The government has played fast and loose with HS2 and scrapping the Manchester leg is a betrayal of the North.
“Transport is the backbone of rebalancing our regions. New promises heard today to redeploy HS2 funding – across the whole country – not only undermines levelling up but also lacks credibility.
“Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 are in the long-term interest of the country. This is a double blow for the North.”
Birmingham will become 'Britain's biggest bottleneck'
Here's the High Speed Rail Group responding to the HS2 cancellation
Today’s news is a devastating blow to our industry and our whole economy. For 15 years we have worked with the government to develop this project - their project - taking it from a concept to construction. Companies have invested in people, skills and equipment on the back of it with some even relocating in anticipation of it being completed.
It is true the costs of the project have risen over those 15 years. In recent years inflation has been rampant in the UK economy and the construction sector has been impacted far more than most. But the principal cause of any real term cost increases lies in the chopping and changing of the project’s scope, with today’s news being the fourth major change by government in just three years. As any project manager will tell you, the cheapest way to deliver is against a fixed scope without constant changes. This is the biggest and most damaging U-turn in the history of UK infrastructure.
What we have now is a plan for a railway that will not deliver the transformational benefits the north of England needs. Indeed, the solution proposed by the Prime Minister is a recipe for disaster. Merging HS2 trains onto existing lines at Birmingham will create a huge bottleneck, akin to the M40 merging onto an A-road and then a country lane - rather than the M6. Rail connectivity to the north will be worse than it is today.
That's why it is inconceivable that HS2 will not eventually reach Manchester. Today the industry recommits to delivering the first phase as efficiently as it can, whilst continuing to make the case that this should be just the beginning of a network that reaches Manchester, Leeds and many more cities. We stand ready to work on those future developments.
The proposed investments through ‘Network North’ is an interesting one and of course welcome. But cancelling Phase 2 of HS2 frees up just £1-3 billion in the next five years, meaning any improvements are still far over the horizon.
If we want to truly level up our country, it cannot be a choice between HS2 and other projects. The UK needs 21st century infrastructure, bringing all of its cities closer together. HS2 is the key foundation for that network. Every other major European country has managed to build a high speed rail network, recognising it’s a vital part of a modern society and economy for years to come. We’d like to think Britain still could too.
'Disappointed and disheartened' says Midlands Connect
Regional transport body Midlands Connect is perhaps not a fan of today's announcement, with its chairman Sir John Peace saying they are both "disappointed and disheartened".
"We must not start from scratch, we must work at pace to deliver HS2 phase one all the way to Euston. There are also lessons to be learnt from the HS2 story so far.
"The Midlands Rail Hub and road programmes including the A5 which have been announced today resonate with us, these are our transformational East-West priorities for the region, which we recommended and have been progressing with the Government.
"We are now calling for more detail on timescales and plan of action and asking for a high-level urgent meeting with ministers to ensure these plans and the benefits for the Midlands are delivered as quickly as possible. We will now work, like we always do, cross-party and in an open and collaborative way with all involved."
Transport projects supported by PM as HS2 axed north of Birmingham
The Prime Minister has announced the Government will support a series of transport schemes after cutting HS2 north of Birmingham.
Rishi Sunak pledged to "reinvest every single penny, £36bn, in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country".
This includes the creation of what he named Network North, which involves improvements to road, rail and bus schemes.
The projects he mentioned in his speech to the Conservative Party conference were:
– Train journeys from Manchester on a "fully electrified line" to a new station in Bradford in 30 minutes, Sheffield in 42 minutes and Hull in one hour and 24 minutes.
– He will “protect the £12bn to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned".
– Build the Midlands Rail Hub connecting 50 stations.
– Extend the West Midlands Metro.
– Build a tram network in Leeds.
– Electrify the North Wales Mainline.
– Keep the £2 cap on single bus fares across England.
– Upgrade the A1, A2, A5 and M6 roads.
– Upgrade the A75 to boost links between Scotland and Northern Ireland.
– Fund the proposed Shipley Bypass in Bradford, the Blyth Relief Road in Northumberland and "deliver 70 other road schemes".
– Resurface roads "across the country".
– Reopen the Don Valley railway line between Sheffield and Stocksbridge, South Yorkshire.
– Upgrade the Energy Coast railway line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow, Cumbria.
– Build "hundreds of other schemes".
Railway Industry Association "extremely disappointed" by HS2 announcement
Darren Caplan, Railway Industry Association chief executive, said: "Many of the Railway Industry Association’s members will be extremely disappointed by the Government’s proposal announced today by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to scrap HS2 between Birminghamand Manchester. This follows the previous scrapping of the Eastern Leg to Leeds, the Golborne Link to enable High Speed trains to get to and from Scotland, and the ‘pausing’ of the Old Oak Common to Euston stretch.
"The Government cites cost as its main reason for scrapping Phase 2, yet it should be remembered that this was the Government’s own scheme, built to its own specifications, and that the chopping and changing of the scope and timing of the project – adding considerably cost and delay – was entirely of the Government’s own making. Every time the scheme is rescoped it increases the cost.
"Scrapping HS2 Phase 2 is simply unnecessary and squanders the full benefits of Phase 1. The Government can work with metro mayors, the railway industry, rail suppliers, and other stakeholders, to agree a cost-effective way forward, including encouraging private investment to take pressure off the public purse.
"Today's nuclear option is defeatist and sends a terrible signal to potential overseas investors that the UK simply cannot deliver large national transport infrastructure schemes. For companies with existing contracts, the implications of the Prime Minister’s proposal to release £6.5bn from the Euston site and create a development zone are particularly unclear.
"Already, multinational railway businesses will be making plans to rationalise their workforces and investments in a way that will be detrimental to the country’s rail supply sector specifically and UK plc more widely. This also blows a hole in the Government’s levelling-up and decarbonisation agendas – none of the replacement regional schemes referred to will have the same impact of building the HS2 in full."
'The opposite of levelling up' - Coventry chamber chief
Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce has hit out at the cancellation of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester.
Chief executive Corin Crane said it was an opportunity wasted and called it the "opposite of levelling up".
"This is an incredibly frustrating decision for businesses across the Midlands and the North and the fact this two-week debate about whether it was speculation or not has been played out in public, is frankly insulting.
"Hundreds of thousands of hours have been wasted planning this project, community-changing regeneration plans are now not feasible along the route, businesses and residents have already been moved to clear the way for a line that will never appear and overseas investors will be looking at the UK in bewilderment.
"Now, we must start another decades-long planning process to get our infrastructure reform started and businesses across our region will continue to see their trucks stuck on motorways with no capacity for freight and their staff stuck on trains with no more capacity for passengers. This is the opposite of levelling up."
Rishi Sunak to bring forward measures to restrict the availability of vapes to children
Rishi Sunak has said he will bring forward measures to restrict the availability of vapes to children.
The Prime Minister said about the rise in vaping among children: "We must act before it becomes endemic, so we will also bring forward measures to restrict the availability of vapes to our children, looking at flavours, packaging displays and disposable vapes.
"As Prime Minister, I have an obligation to do what I think is the right thing for our country in the long-term. And as Conservatives, we have never shirked that responsibility.
"We have always been at the front of society leading it and when we have the tools at our disposal to deal with the biggest cause of preventable illness and death in our country, to cut cancer deaths by a quarter, to significantly reduce long-term pressure on our NHS and to do for our children, what we all in our heart of hearts know is right, we must act, we must lead.
"We must put the next generation first and that is what I will do."
Rishi Sunak tweets the news we'd all been expecting
1/ I’m cancelling the rest of HS2.
— Rishi Sunak (@RishiSunak) October 4, 2023
In its place we’ll reinvest every penny in hundreds of new transport projects in the North, Midlands, and across the country.
That's a £36 billion investment. Every region bar London gets the same or more than under HS2, with quicker results pic.twitter.com/8iZmbd5Iq3
PM challenges opponents of his transport plan
Rishi Sunak challenged opponents of his transport plan to say they would cancel the projects he announced in his conference speech.
He said: "For too long people in Westminster have invested in the transport they want, not the transport the rest of the country – particularly the North and the Midlands – wants and needs.
"And to those who disagree, who will focus on what I have stopped, I ask you to consider what we have just created with Network North.
"An alternative which in place of one delayed and overrunning project will now begin hundreds upon hundreds of new projects, large and small, road and rail, bus and train covering the whole country that will be delivered faster, that will see every region receiving more investment than they would have done.
"You can't have both, so those who wish to disagree with me, I respect that. But they should have the honesty to admit that they would now be cancelling the hundreds of alternative projects right across the country that people will benefit from instead."
Sunak promises major new development around Euston station
Rishi Sunak has promised a major new development around Euston station will save £6.5bn compared to HS2 plans.
He said: "The management of HS2 will no longer be responsible for the Euston site. There must be some accountability for the mistakes made, for the mismanagement of this project.
"We will instead create a new Euston development zone building thousands of new homes for the next generation of homeowners, new business opportunities and a station that delivers the capacity we need.
"And in doing so, for the first time in the lifecycle of this project, we will have cut costs. The £6.5bn of savings that Mark (Harper) and I are making will be taken from the Euston site and given to the rest of the country."
PM announces smoking age plan
Mr Sunak has proposed raising the smoking age by one year, every year, meaning a 14-year-old today will never legally be sold a cigarette.
How northern leg of HS2 will be scrapped
PM outlines transport projects
Mr Sunak said: ""We'll protect the £12bn to link up Manchester and Liverpool as planned, and we'll engage with local leaders on how best to deliver that scheme.
"We'll build the Midlands rail hub connecting 50 different stations, we'll help Andy Street extend the West Midlands metro, we'll build the Leeds tram, we'll electrify the North Wales mainline, upgrade the A1, the A2, A5 the M6..."
HS2 will run to central London
HS2 will still run to Euston in central London, Rishi Sunak has confirmed.
"Manchester to Bradford in 30 minutes, Sheffield in 42 minutes and Hull in 84 minutes"
Mr Sunak says, as a result, every region outside of London will receive "the same or more government investment than they would under HS2 with quicker results". "No government has ever developed a more ambitious scheme for northern transport".
"With our new Network North you will be able to get from Manchester to the new station in Bradford in 30 minutes. Sheffield in 42 minutes and to Hull in 84 minutes on a fully electrified line."
