HS2: Sir Keir Starmer rules out reviving Manchester line-but says Labour committed to Northern Powerhouse Rail

Labour Party Leader Sir Keir Starmer has ruled out reigniting plans for a HS2 line from Birmingham to Manchester. Starmer said that going back on government plans would be ‘not possible to do’.

In October, during their Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak officially cancelled plans to extend the HS2 line from Birmingham up to Manchester. In his speech, he said that the money which would have been spent on this was to be used on other transport projects across the north- including in Manchester. 

His government came under criticism at the end of last year for suggesting that this money, which was under the new umbrella project ‘Network North’, was to repair roads in London. Some of the money was outlined by the PM in October to be used on rail projects in the region. 

Speaking to the BBC, Starmer said that his party would not revive the cancelled plans for a HS2 link should they win the next general election. He suggested that this was because the current government had already “blown the budget”. 

What the Leader of the Opposition did commit to was Northern Powerhouse Rail. He said that he wanted to speak to North West mayors to find out exactly the type of transport improvements the region needs. 

He said: “I want that designed and built in the North and therefore I'm talking to Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram about what are the needs of the people in the North West so that the plan can actually deliver what works for them.”

No date for the general election has been confirmed as of yet, but PM Rishi Sunak has suggested it will be in the second half of the year. Starmer will be looking to become the first Labour PM in 14 years by defeating the Conservatives.