As he prepares for what may be his last party conference as Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak is working on a truly unpleasant gift for Manchester, host city to the gathering that opens on Sunday. Though ministers insist that no final decision has been taken, they have conspicuously declined to deny reports that the Birmingham-Manchester section of HS2 is set to be scrapped — or delayed to the point that it is an objective only on paper.
It is also increasingly likely that the London terminus of the high-speed rail-link will be Old Oak Common, six miles west of Euston, as originally planned. If Sunak proceeds on this basis, HS2 will amount to no more than a 140-mile connection between two inconveniently situated stations in London and Birmingham.
