HS2 is a ‘killer whale’ for next PM, says cabinet minister
The HS2 rail project will be a “killer whale” for the next UK Prime Minister and “could “rip the arm” off their administration, according to Cabinet Office minister Kit Malthouse.
Malthouse urged Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss to ensure “we’ve got the risk assessed properly” on the near £100bn high speed rail line that will link London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
It comes after Boris Johnson said in his last Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs) that while he “loves the Treasury” that “if we’d always listened to the Treasury, we would have never built the M25 or Channel Tunnel”.
Downing Street said his comments were a warning for his successor to not shy away from big infrastructure projects.
When asked about HS2, Malthouse told The Telegraph: “These are the big projects that sit out there below the surface, waiting to breach above the waves and rip your arm off. Big projects with big money involved, that often take quite a lot of sophisticated leadership and management.
“And we need to just make sure that we’ve got the risk assessed properly on that for a new Prime Minister.”
HS2 was originally projected to cost around £55bn, however the cost has ballooned out to an estimate of between £72bn and £98bn.
The project has also been hampered by delays, which mean the whole line will not be open before the mid-2030s.
The government has made a series of announcements in the past six months to scale back the project, which means there will be less connectivity than initially proposed in the North East and Yorkshire.
A spokesperson for HS2 said: “With over 350 construction sites active between London and Crewe, three giant tunnelling machines currently underground, and works started on our viaducts and stations, HS2 is on budget and making fantastic progress.”