MANCHESTER, England: In the lead-up to the critical year of 2024, British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak faces a daunting challenge: to convince both his Conservative party and the nation at large that he epitomizes change.
This pivotal mission is set to manifest in his inaugural, and perhaps consequential, speech as leader during the party’s annual conference. The stakes are high, with the governing Conservatives trailing in opinion polls and a looming election on the horizon.
Sunak’s core message asserts his willingness to make resolute choices and impactful decisions aimed at fostering “long-term success” rather than pursuing transient advantages. However, the task of setting a decisive agenda has proven to be an uphill battle. One of his prominent decisions, concerning the ambitious yet overbudget high-speed railway line that was intended to link London and Manchester, has already cast a shadow over the conference and divided the party.
News leaks detailing Sunak’s plans to significantly revise the High Speed 2 railway project have generated a maelstrom of opinions within the Conservative party. The proposal has been met with scepticism by some members who view it as a questionable move, especially considering the conference’s location in Manchester, a city that was envisioned to be connected through this infrastructure. Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands region, criticized the decision as “an incredible political gaffe,” fearing it might fuel accusations that the party has turned its back on the North.
The High Speed 2 railway was initially portrayed as a monumental endeavour, touted as Europe’s largest infrastructure project. Its purpose was to substantially reduce travel times and augment transportation capacity between London, Birmingham, and the northern cities of Manchester and Leeds, utilizing state-of-the-art trains that could reach speeds of 250 mph (400 kph).
Originally conceived as a pivotal component of the government’s plan to “level up” the nation by redistributing economic resources from the prosperous south to the economically challenged north, the project’s cost estimate in 2011 was a modest 33 billion pounds. However, over the years, it has spiralled to well over 100 billion pounds ($122 billion) according to some projections. The Manchester-Leeds section of the line was excised from the plan by the Conservative government in 2021, citing the upheaval brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic, which dramatically impacted train travel and passenger numbers across the UK.
