This is the party of conpetence (pun intended). As soon as it looked likely this was going into the north, it quickly changed to “we cannot afford this”. This has been a storyline that has transcended decades. We are back to Jam tomorrow speeches for the north. There has been no attempt to replace what was lost from the EU. The Tories have very few mates in the north so why spend there.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
“The facts have changed,” the PM has said, as he confirmed he was scrapping the huge infrastructure project of the West Midlands to Manchester leg of HS2 high speed rail.
Addressing his party conference, Rishi Sunak said the project had come from a “false consensus” that links between big cities were “all that matters”.
It was the PM’s first speech to party conference as Conservative leader, and his hour-long address marked the start of a new and more risky approach from Mr Sunak.
If Mr Sunak can convince voters that he offers a better chance of a new approach to government than Sir Keir Starmer, he may yet arrest the persistent and wide polling gap between the Tories and Labour.
Talk about the scrapping of HS2 overshadowed the conference, and the PM’s confirmation was accompanied by news that nearly £4bn would be reallocated to transport schemes in six northern city regions.
The decision will anger some including local leaders - such as Andy Street, the Conservative Mayor of the West Midlands - and businesses in Manchester.
The original article contains 575 words, the summary contains 176 words. Saved 69%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!