If Rishi Sunak hopes his refusal to commit to the second phase of the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester will boost his popularity, voters in the Midlands town of Tamworth may have other ideas.
The track has already carved a chunk out of the countryside as it runs past Birmingham to meet the west coast mainline. “It’s devastated some of the areas around here,” says Tamworth resident and bookbinder Bev Munnerley. “And nobody is going to be able to afford to go on the damn thing – all for the sake of 20 minutes faster to get to London.”
