: “If we delay or cut the northern legs, if we truncate HS2 – then we are betraying the north of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up.” The ex-Prime Minister added: “Cancel HS2? Cut off the northern legs? We must be out of our minds.”
He proposed asking businesses to invest in the line, as has been done with other major infrastructure schemes, rather than having the Government simply fund the whole project. The policy is one of several to have been leaked before it was ready to be announced, in this case because officials accidentally showed documents with the plans to photographers in Downing Street.
The conference running between Sunday and Wednesday will include fringe events held by a number of different pressure groups within the Conservative party, with ministers and senior backbenchers who are seen as potential future leaders seeking to build their support base.