UK PM Rishi Sunak axes part of HS2 high-speed rail line, vows to raise smoking age
- Sunak cancelled a rail link to Manchester ending weeks of uncertainty and provoking anger in his own Conservative Party
- The UK PM also vowed to introduce legislation to reduce tobacco use, by raising the smoking age by one year every year until it applies to the whole population
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak ended long-running speculation on Wednesday by announcing he was scrapping part of a massive high-speed rail scheme, during a keynote speech closing his ruling Conservatives’ annual conference.
His much-anticipated address in northwest England effectively fired the starting gun on Britain’s next general election campaign, with a vote widely expected to take place next year.
“I’m ending this long-running saga,” Sunak told delegates to loud applause and cheering, confirming that he was cancelling the northern leg of the HS2 train line – a highly contentious move that has overshadowed the yearly event.
“I’m cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place we will reinvest every single penny, £36 billion (US$43.6 billion), in hundreds of new transport projects in the north, in the Midlands, across the country,” he told the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, northwest England, a proposed terminus for the new rail link.
The 43-year-old UK leader faces a daunting challenge rallying the Tories to win the election – due to occur by January 2025 at the latest, after several years of damaging scandals and deep economic woes.
The party, in power since 2010, has lagged behind the main Labour opposition in polls throughout Sunak’s tenure.