UK Tory Conference: PM Sunak Cancels Major Rail Link

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Facts

• Speaking at the Conservative Party conference on Wednesday, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that the government would cancel the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the country's HS2 high-speed train project.¹
• While confirming that the London Euston to Birmingham leg would be completed, Sunak stated that he would be ending the 'long-running saga' as the 'facts have changed' concerning the price of the project.²
• The prime minister revealed that the cost of the HS2 rail link had 'more than doubled' while claiming that the £36B ($43.8B) saved from canceling the route would be reinvested into projects in the north of England that would 'make a real difference.'³
• Sunak consequently announced the 'Network North' program, which will see further investment into existing transport systems. HS2 trains are still intended to run between Manchester and Birmingham but on pre-existing, slower rail lines.⁴
• The speech also included Sunak's intention for a House of Commons vote intended to raise the age of smoking by one year every year, a reform of secondary school education to form an 'Advanced British Standard,' and a pledge to get the UK to net zero by 2050.⁵
• The latest YouGov/Times voting intention poll places the Conservative Party at 24% support, compared to 45% support for the Labour Party. Furthermore, 30% of those questioned claimed that Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer would make a better prime minister, compared to 22% in support of Sunak.⁶

Sources: ¹BBC News, ²Independent, ³Evening standard, ⁴Ft, ⁵Inews.co.uk and ⁶Yougov.

Narratives

• Right narrative, as provided by The telegraph. Sunak is more than aware of his party's decline in the polls and is now keen to focus on long-term decision-making to regain the public's trust. While essential long-term reforms to various public institutions are often synonymous with failure in the UK political sphere — predominantly down to a lack of will by politicians to withstand short-term criticism to achieve their goals — Sunak must pursue what he knows to be correct.
• Left narrative, as provided by Mirror. The scrapping of the HS2 link between Birmingham and Manchester is a historic betrayal of the North and the perfect demonstration of incompetency within the Tory party. While Sunak may purport to prioritize the nation's long-term health over short-term gains, this decision achieves the exact opposite as Sunak looks to shore up support ahead of next year's election — a clear indication of where his priorities truly lie.

Predictions