Scrapping the northern extension of HS2 would be a “gross act of vandalism”, George Osborne and Michael Heseltine have warned.
The former chancellor and former deputy prime minister have told Rishi Sunak that stopping short of Manchester would be “an act of huge economic self-harm”.
The intervention comes weeks after The Independent’s explosive revealations that Mr Sunak and chancellor Jeremy Hunt are in advanced discussions over scrapping the second stage of the high speed rail project.
Under plans codenamed “Project Redwood”, the PM and chancellor are considering the move, with estimates suggesting £34bn would be saved by abandoning any future plans.
As Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham said cutting the line would “leave the north with Victorian infrastructure, probably for the rest of this century”, Mr Osborne and Lord Heseltine pleaded with the PM: “Don’t do it.”
But despite refusing to commit to building HS2 to Manchester, Mr Sunak insisted he is committed to levelling up – the Tories’ 2019 election promise to spread prosperity around the UK.
He told broadcasters on Monday: “I’m not going to comment on that type of speculation. But what I would say is we’re absolutely committed to levelling up and spreading opportunity around the country, not just in the North but in the Midlands, in all other regions of our fantastic country.
“And transport infrastructure is a key part of that, not just big rail projects, but also local projects, improving local bus services, fixing pot holes, all of these things make a difference it people’s day-to-day lives.”
But in a joint op-ed in The Times, Lord Heseltine and Mr Osborne said they felt “compelled to speak out” about the PM’s plans plans.
They joined a growing chorus of opposition to the plans, revealed by The Independent, including from David Cameron, Boris Johnson, a host of regional mayors and the government’s own infrastructure tsar Sir John Armitt.
Lord Heseltine and Mr Osborne wrote: “It would be an act of huge economic self-harm, and be a decision of such short-sightedness, that we urge the prime minister: don’t do it.
“How could you ever again claim to be levelling up when you cancel the biggest levelling-up project in the country?”
Referring to the PM’s new slogan, “long-term decisions for a brighter future”, the pair said it would be undermined by “abandoning the single largest and most challenging long term piece of infrastructure the country is building”.
Lord Heseltine, who served as deputy prime minister under John Major, and Osborne, said governments are remembered for “what they build and create”.
“Make this mistake, and yours may only be known for what it cancelled and curtailed,” they warned.
And despite citing “legitimate concerns” with the project around cost overruns, they called for a “sensible, serious way forward; not the gross act of vandalism that cancelling HS2 would represent”.
The “remaining stump” that would be left would amount to a “shuttle service from Birmingham to a London suburb” and would stand as “an international symbol of our decline,” they said.
They added: “Messrs Sunak and Hunt have been restoring our country’s reputation — let’s hope they see sense and avoid undoing all the good work they have done.”
Mr Burnham told the BBC he will be writing to the Prime Minister on Monday to ask him not to scrap the high speed rail project.
He told the Today programme: “Scrapping HS2 rips the heart out of northern powerhouse rail.
“It would leave the north of England with Victorian infrastructure, probably for the rest of this century.
“And if we’re trapped with that old infrastructure and the southern half of the country has 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.”
HS2’s original leg to Leeds via Sheffield was already scrapped under Mr Johnson’s premiership, while Mr Sunak was chancellor.
Labour’s official policy is to build HS2 in full, including the previously cancelled spur to Leeds – though spokespersons for the opposition party have at times in the past two weeks appeared reluctant to confirm this.
It is also understood that any move by the government to pull the legislation for the northern phase of the project – which is currently going through parliament – would significantly complicate the process for a new government attempting to complete it.
