Abandoning HS2 'final nail in coffin for levelling up'

Abandoning high-speed rail in the north of England risks tens of thousands of jobs and will be "the final nail in the coffin" for levelling up, political and business leaders have warned.

- Josh Halliday, Jessica Murray

Rishi Sunak is considering scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 despite a furious response from senior Conservatives and business chiefs.

The move, expected to be announced in the autumn statement in November, would scupper plans for a Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), connecting the north of England from Liverpool to Hull, which relies on part of HS2's network.

Amid increasing cross-party anger ahead of the Conservative party conference in Manchester this weekend, the Guardian spoke to more than a dozen political and business leaders in the north of England, who warned:

● Axing NPR would "throttle" postBrexit trading initiatives such as Liverpool's newly opened freeport, which Sunak previously described as vital to "turbo charge" growth; 
● Manchester and Leeds will have lost out on billions of pounds of investment due to prime land that has lain dormant since being ringfenced for HS2 nearly a decade ago;
● Any cuts to HS2 would "choke off" Birmingham's recovery from bankruptcy and would make "a complete mockery" of levelling up.