HS2 may end up as ‘total waste of money’, warns IFS thinktank – as it happened

Construction work for HS2 at the Old Oak Common site in London. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA

6.03pm BST

Afternoon summary

• Paul Johnson, the director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, has said HS2 could end up as a total waste of money. (See 2.45pm.) He was speaking as No 10 hinted that the phase two leg from Birmingham to Manchester might be postponed, rather than cancelled outright. (See 12.35pm.)

• Rishi Sunak has said armed police need clarity about the legal powers they have, as he backed a review by the home secretary after an unnamed officer was charged with murder over the shooting of Chris Kaba last year.

• Eight unions representing teachers and school workers, as well the body for governors, have written to Rishi Sunak demanding an extra £4.4bn annually to ensure buildings are safe for children in England.

• One in 10 prisons in England and Wales are barely fit for purpose and should be shut down if alternative buildings can be found, the official watchdog has said.

• Wendy Chamberlain, the Lib Dem chief whip, has told her party conference this afternoon that the Lib Dems would stop ministers receiving a pay-off (worth almost £17,000 at the current rate) when they leave office if they have only served in government for a short period of time.

Rishi Sunak posing for a selfie with a woman at the Wormley Community Centre which he visited this morning. Photograph: Simon Dawson/No 10 Downing Street

Updated at 6.12pm BST

5.56pm BST

The full list of motions passed at the Lib Dem conference so far is available here.