Rishi Sunak has scrapped the northern leg of the HS2 rail network, insisting the “facts have changed”.
The UK’s Prime Minister pledged to pump £36 billion into improving local rail links in the North of England.
The government “will complete the line from Birmingham to Euston” station in central London given how far along construction is, he said.
His announcement during a keynote speech on the final day of the Conservative Party conference in Manchester followed weeks of reports and speculation suggesting a change of course on HS2.
In his address he also said halving inflation would be the best tax cut, reiterated his support for Ukraine, and pledged to make the most of post-Brexit opportunities. He also defended his U-turns on green policies.
Britain is not a “racist country”, the Prime Minister said as he highlighted the diversity within the ruling Conservative Party.
He said he was “proud to be the first British-Asian Prime Minister” but “even prouder that it is just not a big deal”.
He unveiled a new qualification called the “Advanced British Standard” with the aim of uniting A-levels and T-levels “into a new, single qualification for our school leavers”. It will “deliver on the promise of parity of esteem between academic and technical education,” he said because all pupils will have an opportunity to sit the same exam. Only pupils in England will be eligible as education is devolved.
‘I’m ending the HS2 saga’
The project was supposed to lead to 330 miles of high-speed rail linking London to the North, and had an original cost, at 2019 prices, of between £72 billion and £98 billion.
Since then the bill has increased due to inflation.
The Tory leader argued the “facts have changed” since the project’s inception and the economic case for HS2 has been “massively weakened” by the lower number of commuters in the post-Covid era.
“I say to those who backed the project in the first place, the facts have changed and the right thing to do when the facts change is to have the courage to change direction,” he said.
“So I am ending this long-running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place, we will reinvest every single penny, £36 billion in hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, across the country.
“This means £36 billion of investment in the project that will make a real difference across our nation.”
He said his approach is a better use of taxpayers’ money compared to the original plan.
Every region outside of London will receive the same amount of investment or more than what they would have under HS2, Mr Sunak said.
The Prime Minister, 43, was introduced by his wife Akshata Murty, 43, who lauded his “strength of character” and told the packed hall aspiration runs through her husband’s veins.
Wearing a blue bracelet that read ‘Dada’, the father-of-two took to the podium to push a string of his policies and defend his less-popular choices.
He made a dig at Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer over his support for his former boss Jeremy Corbyn, who opposed Britain’s membership of Nato and the country’s Trident nuclear programme.
As Labour continues to lead the Tories in the polls, the Prime Minister said the UK public should never forget Mr Starmer’s backing for Mr Corbyn.
“You can never trust Labour with our country’s security,” he said.
‘Realistic approach to net zero’
Mr Sunak sought to defend his recent decision to push back green targets including a 2030 ban on the sale of new diesel and petrol cars.
He said while it “was not the easiest argument to have” Britain’s poorest household should not have to pay for measures aimed at reaching the net-zero 2050 target.
“I won’t take any lectures from countries that have done far less than us or from those for whom spending thousands of pounds means nothing,” he said.
The UK remains on track to meet domestic and international climate targets and its net-zero commitment.
He chose to “take a pragmatic proportionate and realistic approach to reaching net zero”, he said.
By scaling back the green agenda his administration has “solved a problem and offered an unapologetic defence of good Conservative common sense,” he said.
Mr Sunak promised to “lead in a different way” and to “tell it as it is”.
He said “I know you want tax cuts, I want them too” but he argued that halving inflation and easing the cost of living crisis would be “the best tax cut we can give people right now”.
Teenagers must be deterred from taking up smoking, he said, to prevent it from leading to lifelong habits that are likely to cause premature deaths, he said.
Mr Sunak proposed raising the legal smoking age by one year every year to address “the biggest cause of preventable death and disease in the future”.
He said cancer deaths would be reduced by a quarter and pressures on the National Health Service would be eased by the plan, he said.
On his bid to tackle illegal immigration, Mr Sunak said small boat crossings in the Channel are, for the first time, down 20 per cent this year.
He said that while “we are by no means where we want to be”, once flights start going to Rwanda he is “confident” the boats will stop.
“But know this, I will do whatever is necessary to stop the boats,” he added.
Updated: October 04, 2023, 11:34 AM
