Ex-levelling up minister joins calls not to axe HS2

Rishi Sunak is under mounting pressure from senior Conservatives in the north of England over HS2, as both his former levelling up minister and the former Tory chairperson joined calls for the northern leg to be built in full.

- ADAM FORREST, ARCHIE MITCHELL, JON STONE

Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland, and Jake Berry, MP for Rossendale and Darwen, called for the PM to “crack on” with the Birmingham to Manchester route, after The Independent revealed that Mr Sunak and his chancellor Jeremy Hunt were in talks to axe phase 2. Their intervention came as Mr Sunak insisted that the UK was not a “laughing stock” despite uncertainty for businesses over HS2, while business secretary Kemi Badenoch admitted international investors had raised concerns.

As the Tory conference kicked off in Manchester Ms Davison – who resigned from the levelling up department only last month because of “debilitating” migraines – said: “It’s right we crack on and do it.” The influential Red Wall Tory told Times Radio: “My view is that it should be the toughest bit first, you do the northern bit first. So obviously we’re not quite sure fully what decision has been made yet – but I certainly hope it’s the right one and that the northern section is actually prioritised.”

Mr Berry, Tory chairperson under Liz Truss’s short-lived spell at No 10, said the Manchester to Birmingham section of the highspeed rail line “really matters” to people in the North. The senior MP, who represents the red wall seat of Rossendale and Darwen, said people were more worried about the potential loss of Northern Powerhouse Rail – the east-west projects across the Pennines – than HS2.