With Transport Minister Huw Merriman otherwise engaged, Richard Holden deputised for what turned into a tense Commons clash with Labour’s Louise Haigh over HS2. Despite Mark Harper’s assurances a few weeks ago that the high speed rail route will go all the way to Manchester by 2041, Holden’s coy responses in the Chamber this afternoon are casting fresh doubts. Haigh obviously relished her new “great rail betrayal” slogan… even if her colleague Pat McFadden claimed Labour haven’t made a final decision over the weekend.

Despite claiming “construction continues in earnest“, Holden’s refusal to commit at the despatch box to building the Manchester leg will, like Downing Street’s ambivalence last week, suggest they’re about to hit the brakes. Scrapping or delaying the Northern leg could save £35 billion for tax cuts before the election…