The real ‘black hole’ in the UK’s finances is HS2 – let’s kill off this monstrosity for good | Simon Jenkins

Successive prime ministers have lacked the courage to end this vanity project. Is Rishi Sunak any different?

In April 2020, the then chancellor Rishi Sunak gave his approval to a new railway to Birmingham, expected to cost £44bn. Contracts were promptly signed. The overall HS2 project is estimated at £100bn. An infuriated Whitehall official told me at the time: “Never let that man say he cannot afford any item of public expenditure.”

The ambition was soon trimmed. HS2 will no longer go to Yorkshire, only to Birmingham and Manchester. A 10-year-old plan for Euston station, on which more than £100m has already been spent, must be radically redesigned. Rail passenger numbers even in the Midlands have fallen, leaving HS2 largely to benefit commuters into Birmingham and from London’s home counties. .

Simon Jenkins is a Guardian columnist

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