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A second Cabinet minister today hinted that HS2 will get the go-ahead.
Justice Minister Robert Buckland suggested the Government may “take the plunge” over the high-speed rail line despite a review finding that costs could rise to £106 billion, almost double the present £56 billion budget, and several MPs opposing the scheme.
Boris Johnson is expected to meet with Chancellor Sajid Javid and Transport Secretary Grant Shapps this week to discuss the project’s future.
Mr Buckland told BBC’s Westminster Hour it might not be an “either/or choice”. “Taking the plunge and building these major infrastructure projects is the right thing to do, even though it is deeply controversial.
“The overall effects will be felt for generations to come.”
He said development in the North should occur regardless of what happens with HS2, adding: “All these things are connected. There has been talk of HS3, well you can’t do that without the connection to the South which HS2 offers.”
He also said there was a “genuine debate” in the Government about the way forward and stressed that the decision “has not been made yet”.
It comes after Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said his gut feeling was that the rail line will receive the go-ahead within the next few weeks .
He told The Andrew Marr Show yesterday that the project was key to the Government’s plans to raise the economic performance of the whole country and added: “We have a strong commitment to levelling up all parts of the UK. HS2 is a key part of that, not just from speed but from a capacity point of view. And that is a very clear commitment we have given the North.”
The first phase of the project is due to link London and Birmingham, followed by extensions to Leeds and Manchester.
Labour MP Meg Hillier, the last chair of the Public Accounts Committee, said there was “a lot of skin in the game” after time, money and planning had been put into HS2 and her “hunch will be that it does continue”.
Whitehall’s spending watchdog National Audit Office warned HS2 is over budget and behind schedule because its complexity and risks were under-estimated.
Mr Shapps has said a decision whether to go ahead with HS2 will be made in “weeks rather than months”.
