The Commons: HS2 And Network North- Sunak's Big Failure or Success?
HS2 Ltd.
To many people, HS2 wasn’t just a train line, it was a symbol of change and prosperity. The train line was first initiated by Gordon Brown, former Labor Prime Minister, back in 2010 and was carried on by the different Conservative governments all the way up to Rishi Sunak in 2023.
With the increasing cost of living and inflation issues that Britain was facing, PM Sunak in October made the decision to scrap the Northern leg of the HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester and redistribute the multi-billion-pound budget to the construction of Network North, Sunak’s plan to create more inter-connectedness between the Northern cities.
The decision, which split members of the Conservative party, was controversial and fed into the narrative that the Tories were sweeping their ‘Levelling-up’ the North policy under the carpet. In the 2019 election, the Conservatives broke the Labor ‘Red Wall’ in the North of England by promising to bring prosperity back to the region. HS2 was a vital part of this promise.
The Conservatives have long sought to uplift the North of England, but without policies and funding to act on these promises, there has been little to no trust remaining from the people of the North. Recent poll numbers show the Labor party is favored much more than the Conservatives - especially in the former ‘Red Wall’.
YouGov Voting Intention (7-8th Feb 2024)
Despite the Prime Minister promising to not divert funds away from Network North to different projects, the decision to scrap the HS2 line from Birmingham to Manchester was not taken well by the mayors and regional leaders in the North of England. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham described Network North as a plan that had been “broken up and scattered around”.
Even former Prime Minister and current Foreign Secretary David Cameron voiced his concerns over Sunak’s decision at the Conservative Party conference in October, where he described the decision as “wrong”. Cameron didn’t break the ministerial code as he was not a foreign secretary at the time of his comments. However, during his reign in No.10 Downing Street, he was a major supporter of the HS2 line being developed as part of his greater plan to propel the North.
These concerns come from the history of the North being left behind when it comes to economic growth. Sunak’s promise to connect northern cities, as shown by Network North, managed to alleviate some of these concerns. However, four months later, has much progress been made?
The Network North plan has received pushback from those within the rail industry from concern over serious practical issues. Sir John Armitt, chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission, stated that areas of the project had “not been designed in any sense of detail whatsoever”. When given the opportunity to confront this issue, the Transport Department did not choose to comment on this.
Network North was PM Sunak’s major policy statement after the cancellation of the HS2 line from Birmingham to Manchester, and these latest comments by the chairman of the National Infrastructure Commission add further pressure to the Prime Minister. Not just pressure from the people in the North, but his own MPs who won in the North as a result of promises like HS2 will be worried for their own political future if they do not see concrete developments
In early December, the Department for Transport announced a new £235 million Network North project, fixing pothole issues in London. This sparked outrage from political actors across the spectrum as it was seen to further increase the gap between the North and the South. Kim McGuinness, a candidate for the North-East Mayor, stated the plan was “Tories celebrating widening the widening North/South divide”. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham also responded on X to the plan to address the London potholes by saying ‘Network North’ seems to include everywhere – except the North.”
Despite a large portion of the budget being spent on issues that were plaguing the Northern areas, the fact that funds that were supposed to be used exclusively to fix areas of concern in the North of England were then diverted to help address issues in the capital fed the Labor party narrative than Conservative governments will always look to prioritize the South, London especially, over the North.
The discontent from regional leaders in the North of England has cumulated into action as the mayors of Greater Manchester and West Midlands have met with government ministers recently to put forward their own alternatives to Sunak’s plan.
The proposal that was reportedly put forward by Andy Street and Andy Burnham, mayors of West Midlands and Greater Manchester, was for a “similar route as the scrapped HS2 line, using different ‘construction methods”. The proposal opts for partial private funding from infrastructure companies instead of purely public taxation.
It is believed that PM Sunak is open to the suggestion of a new proposal for the North’s rail issue and the use of private funding for this would allow for a feasible and practical solution.
Going into an election year, many would question the reason why key Labor political figures in an important and contested area of the U.K. would compromise and work with the Conservatives. One reason for this could perhaps be the fact that by providing alternatives to the Prime Minister and succeeding, it could be seen as a moral victory for Labor and allow them to boost their own reputation and belief that they are now fit for government, which the public didn’t concur with under Corbyn.
Evidently, there has not been tangible progress ever since PM Sunak’s speech at the Conservative Party conference 4 months ago, but whether or not this will change depends heavily on bipartisan agreement, as well as important regional compromise.