HS2

• Having the best infrastructure is essential to attracting long-term investment, which the UK desperately needs particularly after Brexit and 13 years of economic mismanagement.
• Britain has one of the most congested rail networks in Europe and needs new dedicated passenger lines but it shouldn’t cost this much or take this long.
• The scrapping of HS2 reveals that the Conservative promise to level up the North was completely hollow.
• It’s further evidence that this Government is not fit to govern. After 13 years and £15bn spent, this they can barely start one new rail line. 
• £2.3bn had already been spent on the second phase before the decision was made to scrap it. This is now going to waste at a time when ordinary Brits are struggling to feed themselves and their families.
• Whilst inflation has increased costs of all building projects, Brexit  has likely made inflation worse. UKTBC research this year showed the cost of construction has risen faster in the UK than EU since 2015: up 60% compared to 35%. The notion that the Tories are safe with money has been blown out of the water. 
• The list of transport projects that Sunak said would get funding at Tory Party Conf., as a result of the second leg being scrapped, was revealed to be only “illustrative”.

Supportive stats and facts

• In 2019 Spain opened a new  high-speed rail line to Granada which cost £17m per mile. Phase 1 of HS2 is costing £300m per mile

Previous reactive lines: 

Naomi Smith on the government’s announcement that the second leg of HS2 was being shelved: “High speed rail increases capacity on existing lines, gets people out of cars, boosts productivity and attracts investment. After derailing the economy with a terrible Brexit deal and presiding over a decade of lost growth, axing a key leg of this vital infrastructure project shows this Government has run out of track – Britain needs a General Election, fast.”