Apart from Andy Burnham complaining of Mancs being treated as “second class citizens,” a few Tory cabinet ministers might be suffering from the HS-Blues this week as Sunak cancels the rest of the project in what Greg Hands noted would be called “a sign of our decline”. His head was presumably in his hands as the northern leg was axed…

HS2 is absolutely vital. Totally agree w @andy4wm. Post Brexit we must be AMBITIOUS for our country and hungry for our economy. What signal would it send if we cancelled our highest profile infrastructure project and weakened our commitment to share prosperity around the country? https://t.co/wqvlNAm3YQ

— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) May 20, 2019

Thérèse Coffey warned back in 2011 that to “dump HS2 saves cash now but N/S divide deepens”. Grant Shapps must have sympathy for Burnham, especially as he justified the decision to cancel the Leeds leg by arguing that “Manchester is a principal beneficiary of this entire programme”. In Jeremy Hunt’s words, “what signal would it send if we cancelled our highest profile infrastructure project and weakened our commitment to share prosperity around the country?”