Tag: News Story

STORY

In a major blow to the North of England, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced that the HS2 high-speed rail link to Manchester will be scrapped. The decision comes after months of speculation and follows warnings that the project was becoming increasingly expensive and delayed. In a speech to the Conservative Party conference, Sunak said that the Government had decided to “reprioritise” its investment in transport infrastructure, and that the £36 billion saved from scrapping the northern leg of HS2 would be used to fund a series of smaller projects across the country. The cut in investment to the North was widely criticised, with former Conservative Prime Ministers Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron suggesting that the move was a mistake. Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester, said that it was treating residents of Manchester and the North as “second class citizens”.

The decision has been met with widespread anger from politicians and business leaders in the North, who argue that it will further damage the region’s economy and make it more difficult to attract investment. However, the Government has defended its decision, arguing that HS2 is no longer the best way to improve transport links between the North and South of England. The Prime Minister said that the Government would instead focus on investing in existing rail lines and roads, and that this would provide better value for money for taxpayers.

The scrapping of the HS2 link to Manchester is a major setback for the project, which has already been plagued by delays and cost overruns. The first phase of HS2, which will connect London to Birmingham, is due to open in 2029, but the second phase, which would have connected Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds, was due to open in 2033. It remains to be seen how the Government will replace the HS2 link and whether it will be able to deliver on its promises to invest in other transport projects in the North.

STORY

Dale Houghton, a 31 year old football ‘supporter’, has admitted a public order offence at Sheffield magistrates court after he mocked Bradley Lowery, a boy who died at the age of 6. James Gould, the District Judge, said that Houghton’s mocking of the late Lowery was “utterly deplorable” and he said that prison remained an option. Houghton, who was immediately condemned by Sheffield Wednesday and Sunderland football clubs, was bailed and will be sentenced on 17 November. Police confirmed that they have applied for a football banning order for Dale Houghton.

Gemma Lowery, the mother of Bradley, said in a statement:

“Understandably people are angry, if I wasn’t so upset I’d be angry too. Bradley was and still is well loved in the football community, which I’m eternally grateful for, but I must ask that everyone lets the police do their job.”

STORY

Jeremy Hunt, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, has said that the National Living Wage will rise to at least £11 next year. In a press release issued before the Conservative Party’s annual conference in Manchester, Hunt is expected to say that:

“At the moment it is £10.42 and hour and we are waiting for the Low Pay Commission to confirm its recommendation for next year. But I confirm today, whatever that recommendation, we will increase it next year to at least £11 an hour. A pay rise for over 2 million workers.”

EXTERNAL NEWS LINKS

Low Pay Commission

STORY

Mark Harper, the Secretary of State for Transport, has said that he is unable to make any comment on the future of HS2, despite Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, having raised the suggestion that it could be cut back. Harper said in a statement:

“If the government has anything to say, we’ll say that in the usual way, in due course.”

Theresa May, the former Prime Minister, joined in with other former Conservative leaders David Cameron and Boris Johnson, in warning against any cuts to HS2. She said:

“We have to think about why HS2 was designed in the first place. It was because there was a lack of capacity on the west coast mainline. So if there is a lack of capacity on the west coast mainline, we need more railway capacity to serve the north-west.”

She added:

“If HS2 stops at Old Oak Common, it is going to make our railway journeys into London longer and disrupted potentially over the period that Old Oak Common’s building is being done to enable it to take that end point. So I am arguing with government: ‘Don’t stop at Old Oak Common. You need to take it into Euston because my constituents will be disadvantaged if you don’t.”

RESOURCES

Government Hints at HS2 Cut-Backs for Affordability Reasons

STORY

GB News have confirmed that they have suspended their presenter Calvin Robinson as controversy grows about the comments made by Laurence Fox earlier in the week. GB News presenter Nana Akua distanced herself from Fox, stating that he made “a misogynistic, nonsense comment” and Angelos Frangopoulos, the Chief Executive of GB News, said that Fox’s comments were “appalling”. Dan Wootton, the GB News presenter, was also suspended for his response to the comments made by Fox, with Calvin Robinson being suspended for his comments on the matter.

Fox and Wootton have apologised for their behaviour and an investigation will take place on all three presenters to decide on what further action might be taken. Laurence Fox suggested that he expected that both himself and Dan Wootton would be expelled from GB News.

EXTERNAL NEWS LINKS

GB News

NEWS STORY

James Cracknell, the former Olympic rower, has been selected as the Conservative prospective Parliamentary candidate for Colchester. Will Quince, the current Conservative MP, has represented the constituency since 2015 and is standing down at the election. At the 2019 General Election, Quince secured a 9,423 majority over the Labour candidate Tina McKay. The constituency had been held by the Liberal Democrats between 1990 and 2015, having previously been won by the Conservative Party.

RESOURCES

Will Quince

Colchester Constituency

STORY

Armed police officers have returned to work in London amidst the Government’s admission that the army might have been required to support the Met Police. 300 armed officers had turned in their permits over the last week following the decision to charge an officer with the murder of Chris Kaba. The Met Police said in a statement:

“As of lunchtime on Monday, the number of officers who had returned to armed duties was sufficient for us to no longer require external assistance to meet our counterterrorism responsibilities.”

STORY

Rishi Sunak, the Prime Minister, has refused to rule out rumours that the proposed section of HS2 to Manchester is to be scrapped, raising fears about the economic situation in the UK where infrastructure projects need to be cancelled. The Prime Minister has faced substantial opposition today to his suggestion that the project should be delayed including from Andy Burnham, the Mayor of Greater Manchester as well as Boris Johnson and David Cameron, two former Prime Ministers. Burnham criticised the decision, saying “you really should not take this decision without listening to the voice of people here” and adding ““scrapping HS2 rips the heart out of Northern Powerhouse Rail. Basically it would leave the north of England with Victorian infrastructure probably for the rest of this century.”

Allan Cook, a former chair of HS2, questioned the decision to cut spending on the north of the country, saying “why in the north have do we have to make a compromise?”. George Osborne, the former Conservative Chancellor of the Exchequer, and Michael Heseltine, the former Deputy Prime Minister, also criticised the Prime Minister’s decision to consider scrapping the Manchester section.

Rishi Sunak said that an announcement on the project would be made later this week. The current cost of the HS2 project is expected to be between £72 billion and £98 billion, but there are suggestions that the cost might increase to over £100 billion due to delays and changes to the plans. If completed in full, the project would be expected to fully open in the 2040s.

RESOURCES

Andrew Adonis – 2023 Comments on HS2 Delays

STORY

Dehenna Davison, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, has announced that she was standing down from her role due to health reasons. Writing in a letter to the Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, Davison said that she had been “battling with chronic migraine” for some time, and that the condition had made it “difficult, if not impossible” to carry out her ministerial duties. She added:

“Though I have tried to mitigate, and am grateful to colleagues for their patience at times, I don’t feel it is right to continue in the role. At such a critical time for levelling up, I believe the people of communities like mine, and across the country, deserve a minister who can give the job the energy it needs. I regret that I no longer can. And as my capacity is currently diminished, it feels right to focus it on my constituents and promoting conservatism from the backbenches.”

Davison was elected to Parliament in 2019, becoming the first Conservative MP for Bishop Auckland in over 100 years. She was appointed to her ministerial role in September 2022 at the age of just 29 and she was responsible for overseeing the government’s levelling up agenda. Davison had already announced her decision to stand down from Parliament at the next General Election.

RESOURCES

Speeches by Dehenna Davison

STORY

In a speech at the Institute for Government the former Prime Minister Liz Truss defended her economic policies, although wasn’t drawn on why she sacked her Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng who had started to implement them. Truss spoke about the UK’s long-term economic problems and gave her proposed solutions. She argued that the UK has a problem with economic growth and that the government needs to take action to address it. She proposes a three-pronged approach of tax cuts, supply-side reforms, and public spending restraint, arguing that these policies will lead to higher economic growth and investment. Truss said:

“State spending now accounts for 46% of GDP, higher than it was in every year in Britain except for 1975 and up from 34.8% in the year 2000. No other European country has seen this level of growth in state spending, apart from Greece and Spain.”

Truss blamed the political balance in the economy, despite the Conservative Government having been in power for 13 years, saying:

“We’ve all got to admit that it’s the left that made the running. And we’ve seen that regardless of which government has been in power, from the energy price gap to the 2050 climate change target to the ESG agenda in companies. There’s been a cultural shift across both business and the public sector. Towards a lot more left wing policies. And despite the long record of failure of industrial policy, it’s back in vogue again, people are talking about it”.

RESOURCES

Liz Truss’s Speech