Rishi Sunak is STILL refusing to confirm HS2 is coming to Manchester

Rishi Sunak is still refusing to confirm whether HS2 will be coming to Manchester as planned. Speaking on BBC Radio Manchester ahead of the Conservative Party conference, which the city will be hosting next week, the Prime Minister was asked if the Northern leg of the project is being scrapped.

It comes after weeks of speculation over the future of the high-speed rail line following reports that the government is considering shelving the second phase amid concerns about spiraling costs and severe delays. But Mr Sunak refused to end the uncertainty when asked about it this morning (September 28).

In an interview on the local BBC radio station, presenter Anna Jameson asked him to tell the people of Greater Manchester if he is scrapping the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester. He said: "I know there's a lot of speculation on this but we've already got spades in the ground on the first bit of HS2 and what we're doing is getting on with delivering it...

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"It's always right that the government is looking at things to make sure that we are doing things in a way that creates value for money. But what I would say is that HS2 is just one of the many things we are doing to level up across our country and it's one of the many things that we're doing to invest in the North and in transport infrastructure in the North.

"If you look right now we're providing record sums to Greater Manchester in particular so that they can improve transport in and around the city, in the suburbs with the towns that are nearby,