'Once in a generation opportunity' to be thrown away with cuts to HS2 David Cameron warns

A 'once-in-a-generation opportunity' will be lost thanks to the 'wrong' decision to cancel the rest of HS2, David Cameron has warned Rishi Sunak.

The former Prime Minister said scrapping the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the new high-speed line will make it “much harder” to build political consensus for future long-term projects.

HS2 will run from Euston in central London to Birmingham but will no longer extend beyond the West Midlands. Instead, current PM Mr Sunak promised to use £36 billion of savings from scrapping the HS2 line to fund a raft of other transport schemes.

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Mr Cameron, writing on Twitter, said: “Today’s decision on HS2 is the wrong one. It will help to fuel the views of those who argue that we can no longer think or act for the long-term as a country; that we are heading in the wrong direction.

“HS2 was about investing for the long-term, bringing the country together, ensuring a more balanced economy and delivering the Northern Powerhouse. We achieved historic, cross-party support, with extensive buy-in from city and local authority leaders across the Midlands and North of England.

“Today’s announcement throws away fifteen years of cross-party consensus, sustained over six administrations, and will make it much harder to build consensus for any future long-term projects.

“All across the world, we see transformative, long-term infrastructure projects completed or underway. They show countries on the rise, building for future generations, thinking