Rishi Sunak has confirmed that the HS2 line between Birmingham and Manchester will be scrapped. The Prime Minister said he was ending the ‘long-running saga’ and vowed to invest the money saved – £36 billion – ‘in hundreds of new transport and infrastructure’ projects. The PM also used his Tory conference speech to unveil a crackdown on smoking. He also announced a new qualification to replace A levels.
- Rishi Sunak describes HS2 as ‘the ultimate example of the old consensus’. The PM says its costs have ‘more than doubled’. ‘The economic case (for building HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester) has massively weakened,’ he adds.
- The PM pledges, as expected, to raise the smoking age by one year, every single year, to create a smoking free UK over the next 70 years. It means a 14-year-old today will never be able to buy cigarettes legally. The availability of flavoured vapes for youngsters will also be restricted.
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