Rishi Sunak hits back at claims he is 'betraying the north' with wavering over HS2 Manchester leg

The Prime Minister has denied that people feel betrayed by his wavering over the future of HS2 as he yet again remained tight-lipped on the future of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the project.

Rishi Sunak did nothing to quash reports he is preparing to either scrap or delay the second, northern phase of the planned new high-speed line due to soaring costs.

During a series of interviews with local broadcasters ahead of the Conservative Party conference, he said the government is always making sure 'we get value for money.'

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He also stressed the importance of funding forms of transport he said are “in many places far more important to people’s day-to-day lives” such as local bus services in rural areas and fixing potholes.

During his whirlwind tour of local radio and TV channels on Thursday, Mr Sunak was asked by BBC Radio York whether he would be betraying the North by curtailing the high-speed rail line.

Mr Sunak replied: “No. I think what people will see, I mean particularly around where we are – my home is in Northallerton – we’re investing record amounts in improving infrastructure but also delivering leveling up.” He said the government is “investing record sums in transport infrastructure”.

“When I speak to people when I’m at home or anywhere else around, what everyone tells me is that you’ve got to make it easier to get around all our northern towns and cities, whether it’s Hull, York, Leeds, Sheffield, all the way over to Liverpool. Connecting all those cities up is really important