After years of planning the government has now REFUSED to guarantee HS2 rail line will run to Manchester

After years of discussion and debate, the Government has today refused to guarantee the HS2 railway line will run to Manchester as planned after reports the Prime Minister is in talks to scrap the controversial project's second stage.

Manchester city council today urged Downing Street to 'provide assurances that the Birmingham-Manchester leg of HS2 is going ahead' - saying 'tens of thousands of jobs' and millions of pounds rely on its certainty.

One Greater Manchester MP said he 'never trusted' the Government to complete the high-speed rail link to Manchester.

Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features.

Rochdale MP Tony Lloyd said on X, formerly Twitter: "I never trusted this Tory government to complete HS2 to Manchester, to do what is right and needed for the North of England, but this would be a betrayal of our interests and entrench the North/South divide.

"Time for the party for the South to go."

It comes after The Independent reported that ministers were considering shelving the northern phase amid concerns about spiralling costs and severe delays.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said 'spades are already in the ground on our HS2 programme and we're focused on delivering it', but would not promise the line would go to Manchester.

"I can’t comment on speculation around a leaked document. It is obviously standard process for departments to discuss the phasing of major projects like HS2… but the work is already under way," he said.

Asked whether the Prime Minister was committed to the line going to Manchester, the spokesman said: "We are committed to HS2, to the project. I can’t comment on the speculation that’s a result of a photograph. We are as you know