Transport Secretary Mark Harper was quizzed over the The Sunday Times’ report that ministers did not inform parliament over the spiralling costs of HS2 in 2019. Speaking on the Today Programme, Harper rejected the allegations, saying, “Ministers would have kept Parliament informed”.

According to the report, ministers knew in 2019 that the plans were well over budget, contrary to what they were telling MPs. Off the rails…

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?”

West Midlands mayor Andy Street has come out of intense negotiations with Sunak over HS2 and announced that he won’t be resigning after he heavily trailed that he would. Street said yesterday that Rishi would be “cancelling the future” if he gave up on the Manchester leg of the project. Speaking to the Beeb’s Chris Mason, he said “Obviously, I’m very disappointed that he announced that today…but this is a good compromise.” Quite the climb down…

Rishi has finally confirmed he’s scrapping the northern leg of HS2, claiming it will free up £36 billion to reinvest in hundreds of new transport projects across the UK:

“Every region outside of London will receive the same or more government investment than they would have done under HS2, with quicker results… 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… our plan will drive far more growth and opportunity to the North than a faster train to London ever would.”

Whoops and cheers in the room…

Grant Shapps was asked why he had changed his mind on transport investment on GMB this morning and said: “One word – Coronavirus”. He claimed that the number of passengers “hasn’t come back again” since the pandemic, despite the fact that passenger numbers reached 103% of pre-covid levels in February. Is the government blaming HS2’s cancellation on Covid? 

The slow-moving comms crash continues at Tory Conference as Sunak is battered on a mini-morning round of interviews on HS2. After chaotic media speculation yesterday that the Manchester leg would be kiboshed, Rishi got tetchy as he was repeatedly questioned on his plans for the project. Who could have seen that coming…