Latest UK politics as Sunak says he won’t apologise for scrapping HS2 amid criticism from Cameron and Johnson
Rishi Sunak has faced criticism from his predecessors in Number 10 for losing a “once-in-a-generation opportunity” by cancelling the northern leg of HS2.
The Prime Minister defied senior Tories and business leaders to scrap HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester saying “the facts have changed” and the cost of the high-speed rail scheme had “more than doubled”.
His keynote speech in Manchester saw him make several announcements, including a plan to phase out smoking, in a bid to pitch himself as a politician delivering “change” despite his party having been in power since 2010.
Follow i‘s live blog for updates as they occur.
.dmg-liveblog__entry-container{border:1px solid #bbb;border-radius:2px;margin:1rem 0;padding:10px 15px}.dmg-liveblog__entry img{height:auto;max-width:100%}.dmg-liveblog__load-more{background:#000;border:0;color:#fff;cursor:pointer;padding:.5rem;scroll-margin:1rem;width:100%}.dmg-liveblog__key-event{cursor:pointer}.dmg-liveblog__key-events{list-style-type:none;margin:0;padding:0}.dmg-liveblog__key-event:before{content:”\00BB”;margin-right:5px}.dmg-liveblog__share-tools{display:flex;flex-direction:row;margin:1rem 0 0}.dmg-liveblog__social-icon{cursor:pointer;height:24px;margin-right:10px;position:relative;width:24px}.dmg-liveblog__social-icon-link:after{content:”Copied”;left:calc(100% + 5px);line-height:24px;opacity:0;position:absolute;transition:opacity 1s cubic-bezier(0,1,0,1)}.dmg-liveblog__social-icon-link.dmg-liveblog__social-icon-link–copied:after{opacity:1}.dmg-liveblog__social-icon svg{height:100%;width:100%}.dmg-liveblog__queue p{background:#edffed;border:1px solid #bbb;border-radius:2px;cursor:pointer;display:flex;justify-content:space-between;margin:1rem 0;padding:5px 15px}.dmg-liveblog__order-selector{align-items:center;display:flex}.dmg-liveblog__order-selector label{margin-right:5px}.dmg-liveblog__loader{text-align:center}.dmg-liveblog__loader span{-webkit-animation:dmg-liveblog__loader–rotate 1s linear infinite;animation:dmg-liveblog__loader–rotate 1s linear infinite;border:5px solid;border-color:#000 #000 transparent;border-radius:50%;box-sizing:border-box;display:inline-block;height:48px;width:48px}@-webkit-keyframes dmg-liveblog__loader–rotate{0%{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg)}to{-webkit-transform:rotate(1turn);transform:rotate(1turn)}}@keyframes dmg-liveblog__loader–rotate{0%{-webkit-transform:rotate(0deg);transform:rotate(0deg)}to{-webkit-transform:rotate(1turn);transform:rotate(1turn)}}var DMGLiveblog = {“apiBase”:”https:\/\/wp.inews.co.uk\/wp-json\/”,”liveblogID”:2664655,”embedParentURL”:”https:\/\/inews.co.uk\/news\/politics\/uk-politics-live-latest-updates-rishi-sunak-conservatives-hs2-smoking-trans-debate-2664652″,”showHeadline”:true,”showOrderSelector”:true,”emitSchema”:true,”keyEvents”:{“active”:true,”count”:25,”container”:{“insertBefore”:”.featured-image”}},”entries”:{“count”:10},”polling”:{“active”:true,”frequency”:10,”timestampEnd”:1696550400},”shareTools”:{“active”:true,”platforms”:[“facebook”,”twitter”,”whatsapp”,”email”,”link”]}}
Source link
