Tory minister dodges questions and refuses to confirm HS2 in Manchester

A government minister has refused to confirm that HS2 will reach Manchester after MPs asked if the north of England is being ‘abandoned’.

Conservative MP Richard Holden repeatedly refused to answer in Parliament yesterday (18 September) whether the northern leg of the high-speed railway line will be built.

It follows reports last week that the government is considering shelving the second phase of HS2 amid concerns about spiralling costs and severe delays. A senior Labour figure also failed to commit to completing the controversial project when asked by the BBC over the weekend, but Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham told the media on Monday morning his party’s policy remains unchanged.
 

Read more: Andy Burnham says Labour would bring HS2 to Manchester after fears it could be droppedPublished: 19 September 2023

Speaking in Parliament, Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh asked the government to confirm that high speed trains will reach Manchester by 2041. But, speaking on behalf of the government, Mr Holden would not confirm the commitment made just a few months ago.

The North West Durham MP, who is a parliamentary under secretary of state at the Department for Transport, was asked directly by several MPs whether HS2 will reach the north. But he repeatedly dodged the question, and instead told MPs that ministers will continue to regularly update Parliament on HS2.

In one exchange, Broughton and Blackley MP Graham Stringer asked the minister for an ‘unambiguous answer’. He said: “Is this government still committed to building HS2 to Manchester from Euston? Because people in the North need to know whether or not they are being abandoned, because it looks like that to me from the press reports that journalists haven’t made up.

“Isn’t it the case that the minister is fronting a government that won’t dare tell the electorate that it’s abandoning the North?”

Stretford and Urmston MP Andrew Western and Bury South MP Christian Wakeford also weighed in. The Labour MPs asked the minister when their constituents would be able to board a high-speed train from Manchester to London and claimed that the government is ‘actually giving up’ on the North.

Cheadle MP Mary Robinson contributed too. The Conservative backbencher told the minister that connectivity across the region must be improved in order to ‘unlock economic growth’ and ‘power up northern productivity’.

She said: “Our country will only be truly levelled up with a connected northern region reaching its full potential. Uncertainty around phase 2 is unhelpful.”

Mr Holden said that the government provides regular six-monthly reports on HS2 to Parliament and would continue to keep MPs updated on the project. He said: “There’s no question of this government abandoning the North.

“We’ve put in huge amounts of funding, whether it’s on buses, on new roads – I was only in Preston a few weeks ago to open the new Preston Western Distributor road. This government is hugely investing in the north of England, whether it’s on rail or road or indeed on our important bus network.

“Ministers will continue to update the house regularly on HS2 as we have done throughout.”

Mr Holden told MPs that he is responding on behalf of the government because the rail minister is currently abroad on a work trip while the transport secretary was busy with ‘urgent ministerial business’. He told Parliament that construction of the first phase of HS2 continues in ‘earnest’ with high speed rail services between London and Birmingham due to commence in 2033.

However, Labour’s shadow transport secretary claimed that HS2 services between London and Birmingham would be slower than current passenger trains if plans to slash the project go ahead. She said: “Here we are yet again.

“13 years of gross mismanagement and chaos coming home to roost. First they slashed Northern Powerhouse Rail, then they binned HS2 to Leeds, then they announced the line would terminate at Old Oak Common for years to come, and now it looks like they are considering cutting the North of England out in its entirety.

“If this is true, what are we left with? The Tories’ flagship levelling up project that reaches neither the North of England nor Central London.

“The most expensive railway track in the world that thanks to terminating in Acton will be a longer journey between Birmingham and Central London than the one passengers currently enjoy. What started out as a modern infrastructure plan left by the last Labour Government, linking our largest northern cities, after 13 years of Tory incompetence, waste and broken promises will have turned into a humiliating Conservative failure. A great rail betrayal.”

Joseph Timan, Local Democracy Reporter