Sunak says he ‘won’t be rushed’ into HS2 decision as agenda blown off track – live

Rishi Sunak has brushed off questions about his predecessor Liz Truss stealing the limelight at the Conservative party conference.

The short-lived prime minister, whose fall from office paved the way for Mr Sunak to enter Number 10, was greeted by lengthy queues when she appeared in Manchester on Monday to call for tax cuts to “make Britain grow again”.

The Truss-aligned Conservative Growth Group is said to have the support of 60 MPs, a sizeable chunk of the parliamentary party and enough to threaten Mr Sunak’s majority in the Commons.

Rishi Sunak has refused to confirm he will scrap the northern leg of the HS2 line despite widespread expectation that he will axe the project due to “enormous” costs.

The prime minister said the price of the scheme had gone “far beyond” what was originally planned but declined to publicly say he would save billions by cancelling the Birmingham to Manchester leg.

“It’s clear that the costs of this programme have escalated far beyond what anyone thought at the beginning,” Mr Sunak told Times Radio.

“I know there’s lots of speculation on it but what I would say is I’ll approach this in the same way I approach everything in this job, I will take the time to look at it properly, get across the detail and then decide what’s right for the country.

“The sums involved are enormous and it’s right that the prime ,inister takes proper care over it.

“It’s obviously not my money – it’s taxpayers’ money and we should make the right decisions on these things.”

On BBC Breakfast, Mr Sunak said: “As you saw with my recent decision on net zero, when I make a decision that I think is important of course I go and explain that to everyone, explain why I’m doing what I’m doing, why I thought it was right to change direction there.”

He added: “If that happens and is necessary, of course that’s what I’ll do.”

Some say the Tory conference has been overshadowed by the scrapping of HS2- but have you seen this video of Priti Patel dancing with Nigel Farage? Now, that’s something…

Rishi Sunak said he did not believe voters care about how much money he has, amid claims and criticisms that his wealth means he is “out of touch”.

The prime minister, who with his wife Akshata Murty has an estimated net worth of £529 million, faced questions during a set of broadcast interviews about whether his wealth made it difficult for voters to connect with him.

He told Times Radio: “I think what people want from their prime ministers and their leaders is to do things that are going to make a difference to their lives.

“I don’t think people are as interested in how much money is in my bank account. They’re interested in what I’m doing for them.”

Mr Sunak’s wealth makes him one of the richest men ever to become prime minister, but it has seen critics and opponents argue that he has little understanding of the pressures on ordinary voters battling inflation.

Rishi Sunak rejected a suggestion that the row over HS2 had overshadowed the Conservative Party conference and that the handling of the announcement had been poor.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I don’t think that. Actually we’re having a great conference.”

Pressed again, he said: “The mood here is great.”

He then proceeded to list all the other Government announcements made at the conference in Manchester this week.

Rishi Sunak was boasting his northern credentials in a spiky interview on BBC Breakfast after being accused of giving up on the HS2 line to Manchester

Asked if he can be trusted by The North if he doesn’t link the high-speed railway to the great cities, he hit back: “Look I’m a northern MP. When I’m lucky enough to go home from London I get to go home from North Yorkshire.

“As chancellor I created freeports across The North including in Teeside which is now attracting billions in investments and jobs.” He stressed: “I moved the Treasury to Darlington.”

Rishi Sunak got his own catchphrase “spades in the ground” wrong as he denied giving up on HS2 stretch to Manchester in a heated breakfast interview.

Mr Sunak said: “The way I approach this job I take a look at the facts and take the time to make the right decision on behalf of the country.”

Asked on BBC Breakfast if he had given up on the railway, he said: “Absolutely not, we have got spades on the ground on HS2 as we speak.”

He added: “I know there is lots of speculation. I’m not going to be forced into a premature decision because it will be good for someone’s TV programme. I want to make the right decision for the country.

“What I want to do is make the right decision for the country. This is an enormous amount of people’s money, taxpayers’ money, everybody watching, billions and billions of pounds.

“We shouldn’t be rushed into things like that. What people would expect from me is to take the time to go over it properly and make sure we make the right long-term decisions for the country.”

Vandalism on the railway can result in a life sentence and an unlimited fine for the perpetrator. But the act of national vandalism that is the decision to disconnect the North completely from HS2 will mean a life sentence of inadequate rail services for tens of millions of travellers across England, Wales and Scotland.

No serious figure in the rail industry can believe what the government is contemplating: ripping up the primary function of HS2. The line as conceived (and as recently as two weeks ago, guaranteed by a future Labour government) is designed to connect Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield and Nottingham with Birmingham at 21st-century speeds.

The onward link to London is intended to provide vital extra capacity on all north-south services, with the valuable side effects of slashing journey times and tempting travellers from road to rail, our travel correspondent, Simon Calder writes.