First leg of HS2 ‘would be difficult to abandon’

THE HS2 high-speed rail project would be ‘very difficult’ to scrap before it reaches Birmingham, the head of the spending watchdog has claimed. Sir Amyas Morse – who steps down from his role at the National Audit Office this month – said the UK would have to be in a ‘lot of economic trouble’ to pull the scheme at this stage.

‘There is a point where there’s not much point thinking you can go back. Are we at that point on HS2? It’s difficult for me to say,’ he said.

‘ It might be that we still haven’t quite crossed the Rubicon, but pretty soon we’ll have sunk so much in buying land, building track and so forth, that it would be very difficult not to at least go to Birmingham.’

He told BBC Radio 4’s The Westminster Hour: ‘I think that to pull HS2 now, we’d have to be in a lot of economic trouble.’

His comments come amid mounting Cabinet revolt over HS2. There is also speculation that many of the MPs jostling to succeed Theresa May as prime minister will pledge to axe it. Boris Johnson has proposed pausing the scheme so a highspeed rail link could be built across the North of England.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss has suggested she could axe the £56billion project, saying it will be part of a crucial Government spending review.

The first leg of the HS2 rail line between London and Birmingham is due to be completed by 2026.

It will then branch out through Cheshire to northern cities including Manchester.

Sir Amyas said some big projects should be reconsidered because of the demands of delivering Brexit.

He said: ‘There really needs to be some sense of prioritisation about what can be accommodated alongside Brexit.

‘We need to be realistic and say, what are the things that really matter to the country, that must be done?’

His comments come as a report claims that cancelling HS2 would free up enough cash to bankroll 28 critical transport projects.

The report, compiled by the TaxPayers’ Alliance, is due to be unveiled by former Brexit secretary David Davis tomorrow.

‘We need to be realistic’