What Boris Johnson has previously said about the HS2 project he has now asked to be looked at again

Jan 14 2012: As Mayor of London

“I am a passionate supporter of HS2 in principle, but it has to be right for London. And there are important aspects which are not right. This is not the end of campaigning against HS2. This is not even the end of the beginning. This is the beginning of the middle of the beginning. There is no point spending this much on something which doesn’t work properly.”

Sept 30 2018: As former foreign secretary and as MP for Uxbridge and South Ruislip

projects we should have on transport in the North that ought to take precedence over HS2. It’s crazy how long it takes to get east-west.”

July 10 2019: As Tory leadership candidate:

doesn’t do my constituency any particular favours but I have resolutely refused to say I would cancel HS2 because ... I hesitate before doing things that would stop great public infrastructure projects. What we need to look at is the size of the bill, it’s probably north of £100billion by the time it’s done.”

July 31 2019

“Look, there’s no one more fanatical about major infrastructure projects than me. I’m going to hesitate for a long time before scrapping any major infrastructure project.”