HS2 is 'sucking the life out of local transport' in the North, says Conservative MP

Conservative MP Esther McVey said HS2 is 'sucking the life out of our local transport' in the North of England.

The MP for Tatton in Cheshire spoke out as the government refuses to confirm that the high-speed railway line will come to Manchester. She said 'we certainly don't' need the project in the city-region with the money better spent on connecting northern cities and improving local transport.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, Ms McVey said: "Thank goodness that the Prime Minister is looking at HS2’s spiralling costs, because what might have been feasible at £37 billion really is not at £120 billion going northwards.

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"Things have significantly changed since lockdown. People will now sooner jump on a Zoom to save time and money.

"So it’s the right thing to do and yes, stop it as soon as possible. The Prime Minister is saying that money, £120 billion plus for High Speed 2, would go into the local infrastructure across the North, connecting the great cities of the North from Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, connecting all of those up, as well as giving better local transport, because HS2 is sucking the money and the life out of our local transport.”

Andy Burnham yesterday (Monday) said scrapping HS2's Manchester line would risk the north-south divide becoming a 'north-south chasm. The Greater Manchester Mayor, speaking from Bolton, told Good Morning Britain: "If you speak to people here in Bolton but anywhere actually across the north of England, we have to put up with daily chaos on the railways.

"And why do we have to do that,