Sir Keir Starmer has said he cannot promise a Labour government would reverse the government’s decision to scrap HS2.
Rishi Sunak has been criticised by two former prime ministers, David Cameron and Boris Johnson, for cancelling the high-speed rail link north to Manchester.
The Conservative leader said he had to act when costs “doubled” but the money saved would be spent improving rail and road links in England and Wales instead.
He also used his speech to the Tory Party conference to throw down the gauntlet to Labour, saying he respected those who disagreed with him on HS2 but “they should have the honesty to admit that they would now be cancelling …alternative projects”.
In response, the Labour leader told ITV Regions “wherever there are projects that the government has announced it’s going to do, then we’ll obviously continue with them”.
He denounced the HS2 decision as a “complete fiasco, billions of pounds wasted” and accused the , government of re-announcing schemes already in the pipeline.
But he added: “Can I stand here and commit to reversing the decision on HS2? No, I can’t. Not least because the government’s already releasing land between Birmingham and Manchester (on which it would have been built).”
His comments came amid accusations that the government’s plans were already starting to fall apart after it emerged that HS2 would not be extended to Euston unless enough private investment is secured.
Construction at the HS2 site at Euston
After The Independent revealed Mr Sunak’s plan to scrap HS2’s northern leg, Labour initially refused to say it would build the rail project in full.
Frontbencher Pat McFadden said the party would have to look at the costs once in government but wanted “to see the railway being built”.
Another frontbencher, Nick Thomas Symonds, then committed the party to building HS2 “in full”, before shadow chief secretary to the Treasury Darren Jones watered down the promise.
He said that no commitment could be made until “proper” information had been made available by the government.
When the PM used his Tory conference speech to confirm HS2’s link to Manchester would be cancelled, Labour’s shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh said the move was “emblematic of 13 years of dismal failure”.
“What started as a modern infrastructure plan left by the last Labour government has, after 13 years of incompetence, waste, and broken promises, become a colossal symbol of Conservative failure,” she added.
Labour’s Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has called on Labour to commit to HS2.
After Mr Sunak’s speech, he urged the party to protect land that has already been allocated to the project, so it can be revived in the future.
And The Independent understands Mr Burnham will be meeting Keir Starmer and shadow ministers at the party’s conference next week to press them on the issue.
