The
Prime
Minister


is
refusing
to
say
whether
HS2
will
be
built
north
of
Birmingham
to
Crewe
and
Manchester,
although
newspapers
overnight
are
mostly
assuming
that
the
axe
is
about
to
fall.

Rishi
Sunak
has
continued
to
resist
attempts
by
journalists
to
find
out
what
will
happen.
He
told
BBC
Breakfast:
‘I
know
you
want
to
keep
asking,
I
know
there’s
lots
of
speculation,
but
what
I’m
going
to
say
is
I
won’t
be
forced
into
a
premature
decision
because
it’s
good
for
someone’s
TV
programme.’

It
has
also
been
reported
that
an
emergency
cabinet
meeting
will
be
held
during
the
Conservative
Party
Conference
in
Manchester
today,
but
this
has
also
yet
to
be
confirmed.

Many
senior
Conservatives,
including
three
former
Prime
Ministers,
are
opposing
the
cutback.

Various
parts
of
the
railway
industry
are
also
continuing
to
criticise
the
possibility
that
the
‘network’
could
be
reduced
to
a
section
between
west
London
and
Birmingham.

The
Rail
Forum
said
this
morning
that
it
would
be
‘a
devastating
blow
for
the
supply
chain
and
in
our
opinion
will
cause
significant
reputational
damage
to
the
UK.’

It
continued:
‘HS2
is
vital
for
creating
additional
capacity
for
the
next
50-plus
years
(it’s
not
about
capacity
requirements
today),
levelling
up
and
providing
better
connectivity
as
an
integral
part
of
other
schemes
e.g.
Northern
Powerhouse
Rail,
[and]
ensuring
we
have
a
21st
century
long
distance,
low
carbon
public
transport
network.’

Last
night
Railway
Industry
Association
chief
executive
Darren
Caplan,
who
is
at
the
conference,
said:
‘The
Railway
Industry
Association
and
our
rail
business
members
are
getting
increasingly
concerned
about
reports
that
HS2
between
Birmingham
and
Manchester
will
be
scrapped.

‘These
companies
already
have
around
30,000
people
working
on
the
scheme
with
a
huge
amount
of
construction
ongoing
and
are
set
to
employ
even
more,
together
with
billions
of
pounds
of
investment,
on
HS2
Phase
2.
The
uncertainty
around
all
this
is
potentially
devastating
to
their
plans,
all
of
which
were
developed
in
good
faith.’

With
orders
for
an
HS2
fleet
now
uncertain,
Derby
City
Council
has
expressed
concern
about
the
security
of
jobs
at
the
Alstom
works
in
the
city.

It
said:
‘The
Council
has
pledged
to
play
its
part
in
supporting
the
company,
and
urges
Government
to
work
with
Alstom,
as
it
attempts
to
mitigate
a
major
fall
off
in
production
as
a
result
in
delays
in
new
train
orders.’

Labour
shadow
transport
secretary
Louise
Haigh
MP
said:
‘This
fiasco
shows
the
Conservatives
are
too
divided
and
too
distracted
to
take
this
country
forward.

’After
weeks
of
chaos
and
indecision
on
the
biggest
infrastructure
project
in
the
country,
Rishi
Sunak’s
relaunch
is
now
coming
off
the
rails.

‘This
shambolic
conference
is
showcasing
precisely
why
working
people
cannot
afford
five
more
years
of
the
Conservatives.’