The second day of the Conservative Party conference has been overshadowed by furious row over Rishi Sunak’s plans to delay the Manchester leg of HS2 – just weeks after The Independent first revealed secret talks between him and chancellor Jeremy Hunt to scrap the route.
The decision to delay the leg by seven years means plans for the rail line to stretch beyond Birmingham have been kicked into the long grass, The Independent understands, in a move that has sparked fury among northern business leaders and politicians, including the most senior Tory outside Westminster, Andy Street.
The West Midlands mayor called an extraordinary impromptu press conference on Monday evening, in which he urged the PM not to “cancel the future”, and refused to rule out resigning over the matter.
Meanwhile, further infighting – spearheaded by his brief predecessor Liz Truss – threatened to put Mr Sunak’s majority at risk, as some 60 Tory MPs signed up to her pro-growth group of rebels demanding tax reductions this year to “Make Britain Grow Again”.
