The real point of HS2

Another debate the country needs to have, and soon, is whether it wishes to proceed with the HS2 high-speed link now that the expected cost has risen to more than £100 billion. It may already be too late to pull the plug on a project on which around £9 billion has been spent, principally buying up properties and land along the route.

But we still have not decided if this is an unaffordable white elephant or an essential programme to rebalance the nation’s economy. In the North there is a strong view that it is the latter; and given the Government’s commitment to regional connectivity after the Conservatives ousted dozens of Labour MPS at the general election, Boris Johnson will be reluctant to stop it.

This newspaper was a supporter of HS2 when it was proposed by Labour in 2009. This is not about getting to Birmingham 20 minutes faster but a much broader strategic project intended to address that sense of disparity that manifested itself partly in the Brexit vote and the Tory success last month. For instance, only six England-based FTSE-100 companies are located north of a line from Birmingham to Cambridge. There are nearly 70 in London and the South East. That needs to be addressed for the sake of national cohesion.

When it was unveiled, the cost of the project was estimated at around £30 billion. The leaked review has now put the final bill at £106 billion and who believes it will stay there? The rationale for HS2 as a means of linking the regions and boosting productivity remains strong but there must come a point where the cost outweighs the benefits. Arguably that point has been reached.

The government-commissioned review recommends the scheme should proceed but only to Birmingham while the second phase from the West Midlands to Manchester and Leeds is paused for further feasibility studies. But this would undermine the whole purpose of the line. The Northern Powerhouse concept is tied up to HS2 being delivered to the North. If it is to go ahead, that commitment should be demonstrated by starting the construction of the link from Leeds and Manchester at the same time as the section from London to Birmingham.