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Johnson and ministers to decide fate of HS2 this week


Boris Johnson will this week hold talks with senior ministers to decide the fate of the HS2 high speed rail line, as one cabinet minister insisted that the project remained “a key part” of the government’s plan to revive the Midlands and North of England.

Mr Johnson will hold talks with Sajid Javid, chancellor, and Grant Shapps, transport secretary, in what is widely seen as the moment when the prime minister finally decides whether to back a project whose costs could spiral to more than £100bn.

The prime minister has said his “instinct” is to back the high speed line linking London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds while Mr Shapps is also thought to be backing the scheme; Mr Javid is said by colleagues to be the most cautious.

Speaking ahead of the key meeting, Brexit secretary Steve Barclay said his “gut feeling” was that the project would be given the go-ahead, given the importance it played in the government’s regional strategy.

“Above all we have a strong commitment to levelling up all parts of the UK,” he told the BBC’s Andrew Marr programme. “High Speed 2 is a key part of that, not just for speed, but from a capacity point of view.”

Mr Barclay said the government had given a “very clear commitment to the north” that the line would go ahead, in spite of an official review warning that costs could rocket from an initial estimate of £55bn to more than £106bn.

In spite of the rising costs, Mr Johnson sees the commitment to HS2 as a crucial test of whether he is serious about delivering two of the government’s main priorities: building new infrastructure and boosting productivity outside London.

During the election campaign Mr Johnson said he wanted to save money on a project that could cost “the thick end of £100bn” but said that everyone knew his “instinct” was to build bold infrastructure projects.

CGI of HS2.
CGI of HS2. Brexit secretary Steve Barclay said his ‘gut feeling’ was that the project would be given the go-ahead © Cotton, Marcus

“I’ve overseen a great number of very big infrastructure projects,” he said. “I’m going to hesitate before simply scrapping something that has been long planned and is of great national importance.”

Mr Javid’s position is less clear and he is seen by some in the government as the “swing” minister in the debate. The MP for Bromsgrove in the West Midlands has previously supported the scheme but rising costs have caused him concern.

Last year while running for the Tory leadership, Mr Javid said of HS2: “I am 100% committed to delivering. I would also back another HS3 route linking our great cities of the North, from Liverpool to Manchester, Leeds to Newcastle.”

Treasury officials have always been sceptical of HS2 — reflecting a traditional caution about all big infrastructure projects — but some argue internally that so much money has already been spent that it is better now to proceed.

“The numbers are difficult,” said one Treasury insider. But former chancellor George Osborne, who now chairs the business led Northern Powerhouse partnership, said this month: “HS2 is absolutely critical to changing the economic geography of this country.”

Mr Johnson is under huge pressure from newly elected Tory MPs in the Midlands and North to press ahead with the scheme and would be strongly criticised if he abandoned HS2.

Andy Street, the Tory mayor of the West Midlands, said “very senior and influential business people” had lobbied Mr Johnson to proceed with the project, warning that it was “Narnia-land” to think it could be scrapped without huge costs.

Meanwhile Mr Shapps is expected this week to decide whether to nationalise the ailing Northern rail franchise, operated by Arriva, a subsidiary of Germany’s state-owned Deutsche Bahn, dogged by poor performance and running out of money.

Mr Shapps has promised a decision by the end of January on whether to strip the franchise from Arriva Rail North or allow it to run a reduced service under a new contract. Government advisers admitted the latter course would be unpopular with travellers and local politicians.



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