Residents and business leaders have slammed the government’s decision to scrap phase two of the HS2 rail project, saying it would be “the biggest two fingers to the North seen in decades”.
Fears that the northern leg of the much-delayed scheme was set to be axed were first revealed by The Independent on 13 September and Rishi Sunak and other ministers have repeatedly dodged questions over whether the high-speed railway service will go ahead in Manchester.
