Andy Burnham: scrapping HS2 would be disaster for north of England

The mayor of Greater Manchester has urged ministers to talk to leaders in the north of England before scrapping HS2 and leaving it with “Victorian infrastructure” for the rest of the century.

Andy Burnham said he and the leader of Manchester city council, Bev Craig, would be writing to Rishi Sunak to say that while a rephasing of the rail project may be possible, cancelling the section to Manchester would create “a north-south chasm”.

“You really should not take this decision without listening to the voice of people here,” Burnham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

Amid significant political anger about the much-trailed move, including within the Conservative party, it remains unclear when any decision might be taken.

Sunak and Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, are expected to decide this week, with an announcement pencilled in for Friday.

However, northern Tories believe that scrapping the northern leg before the Conservative party conference in Manchester next weekend would be a huge political embarrassment, and are urging Sunak to wait while they push for a compromise solution.

Asked what would happen to the parallel Northern Powerhouse Rail project if HS2 ended at Birmingham, Burnham said: “Scrapping HS2 rips the heart out of Northern Powerhouse Rail. Basically it would leave the north of England with Victorian infrastructure probably for the rest of this century.

“If we’re trapped with that old infrastructure and the southern half of the country gets new lines, that is a recipe for the north-south divide to become a north-south chasm, the very opposite of the levelling up that we were promised in this parliament.”

In his letter to Sunak, Burnham said he and Craig would be saying: “Please at least do us the courtesy of meeting us and discussing this issue before you take any decision.”

He continued: “It’s frankly disrespectful to the people of the north of England that our voice has not been heard at all in this conversation that seems to be going on within government. This is a decision of epic proportions for our part of the world and we should be heard before it’s taken.

The second thing we’ll be saying in the letter is as part of any discussion, we would say whatever you decide to do, please don’t scrap it.”

If changes had to be made, Burnham said, he could be open to a possible rephashing of the northern section so Northern Powerhouse Rail was built first.

He said: “That is something we could have a discussion with the government about, but scrapping it will basically take everything off the table, the east-west line, Liverpool to Leeds as well.

“And that will be a disaster for people here in the north of England. It would leave us stuck with that Victorian infrastructure that causes so much chaos on our railways day after day.”

Asked about the plans for HS2 on Sky News, the housing minister, Rachel Maclean, was able to say only that there was “no announcement at the moment”.

“The focus is on delivering HS2,” she said, adding: “It’s not for me to say – I’m the housing minister.”