The Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, was quizzed in the Commons today over the HS2 rail project, with a Greater Manchester MP asking for a 'guarantee' the scheme would reach Manchester.
Graham Stringer, the Labour MP for Blackley and Broughton, also asked whether the PM believes 'that investment should be taken from poorer areas in the north and given to the more affluent parts of Kent'. Mr Sunak, however, didn't directly answer the question or give any guarantee, instead referencing the Integrated Rail Plan.
The Government's latest cost estimate for Phase 2a of HS2, from the West Midlands to Crewe, is £5.2 billion-£7.2 billion at 2019 prices. The budget for Phase 2b, however, which should see the high-speed railway extended from Crewe to Manchester and from the West Midlands to the East Midlands, has not been confirmed.
