Uk politics

Rishi Sunak has repeatedly refused to say whether the HS2 high-speed rail line will run to Manchester, in a series of BBC regional interviews.

Speculation has grown as ministers have not guaranteed the second leg of the line, from Birmingham to the North West, will be built.

The prime minister said the government was ensuring “we get value for money”.

Responding to questions, he instead talked about local bus links and improving roads by fixing potholes.

The issue of whether the line to Manchester will go ahead could overshadow the Conservative party conference, beginning in the city on Sunday.

Questions over whether it will go ahead have hung over ministers for two weeks, after photographs of documents identifying possible savings for parts of the line north of Birmingham appeared in the press.

Mr Sunak and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt met earlier this month to discuss the much-delayed project, whose costs have ballooned since the first estimates were produced over a decade ago.

Work has already started on the first part of the line, running from London to Birmingham.

It was originally then meant to run to Manchester and Leeds. However, the leg to Leeds was scrapped in 2021 over concerns about the cost.

Speculation has also mounted that the leg to Manchester could now be delayed, or scrapped altogether.

There have also been suggestions the government could also decide that the leg to London could stop at Old Oak Common, a new terminus in the west of London, instead of Euston station, in a bid to save money.

The first estimate for the project in 2010 was for about £33bn. The most recent official estimate, excluding the cancelled Leeds leg, adds up to about £71bn.

However this was in 2019 prices, so it does not account for the spike in costs for materials and wages, for example, since the Covid pandemic.

Asked on BBC Manchester whether the line would run to the city, Mr Sunak said he was “not speculating on future things”.

Pressed on whether it was under review, he replied: “[the] government is always making sure that we get value for money out of everything we do”.

Adding that most journeys across the North West were made by car, he said repairing potholes on the roads was “priority number one that people raise with me”.

He also went on to talk about the importance of boosting local bus services between northern towns and cities, adding it was “the most popular form of public transport”.

Asked how he would travel to Manchester for the Tory conference, he said he would “probably” drive because of train strikes taking place this weekend .

Dozens of businesses and business groups, as well as several regional mayors, have urged the government to renew its commitment to HS2.

The government has not said whether separate plans to boost rail connections between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool will go ahead if the line to Manchester is scrapped.

The scheme, branded Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR), includes a mix of new and upgraded lines and is meant to use a section of the HS2 line from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly, the city’s main station.

Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, has said scrapping the Manchester leg of the line would “rip the heart” of NPR.

EU-era water pollution restrictions for housing developments are to be scrapped in a bid to build more homes, the government has announced.

Up to 100,000 new homes could be built by 2030 if rules around building houses near waterways in protected areas are loosened, the government said.

Ministers argue water pollution from new homes is “very small” and will be offset by £280m of investment.

But environmental groups described the move as “disgraceful”.

The change will lead to “lots more poo in our rivers” and “not solve root causes of housing problem,” Wildlife Trust chief executive Craig Bennett said.

However, developers welcomed the plans, saying nutrient neutrality rules prevented thousands of homes from being built.

Stewart Baseley, executive chairman of the Home Builders Federation, said housebuilding had been blocked “despite wide acknowledgement that occupants of new homes are responsible for only a tiny fraction of the wastewater finding its ways into rivers and streams”.

Natural England rules mean 62 local authorities cannot allow new developments unless builders can prove their projects are “nutrient neutral” in protected areas, including Somerset, Norfolk, Teesside, Kent, Wiltshire and the Solent.

The government have announced plans to scrap these rules through an amendment, or change, to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, currently going through the House of Lords.

By removing the restrictions, developers will deliver an extra £18bn in economic activity, the government said.

Alongside the move the government is announcing new environmental measures including doubling investment to £280m for the Nutrient Mitigation Scheme run by Natural England.

The new environmental measures will mostly target farming and water companies to restore protected waterways. An extra £166m in grants will be made available to farmers for improved slurry storage to reducing nutrient run off into rivers and wetland.

The government said it is also working on new laws expected to “drive significant investment” from water companies to upgrade wastewater treatment works.

A project is “nutrient neutral” if it can prove it will not add extra nutrients to the surrounding water.

While nutrients may sound healthy, flooding an area with substances such as phosphates and nitrates can reduce the quality of water, harm wildlife and cause excess algae growth.

The nutrient neutral rules have been in place since 2019 following a ruling by the European Court of Justice.

In protected areas across England, developers must prove they will not cause any nutrients to seep into nearby water for new building projects to be granted nutrient neutral status before they can begin building – rather than allowing builders to mitigate the impact of their work across multiple developments.

Research by the Environmental Audit Committee in Parliament found agricultural pollution is “the most common factor” for ecological damage in the UK’s rivers and other water bodies.

But housing developments can also pose a risk due the wastewater and sewage that can come from new homes – as well as the run-off from construction sites.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said a “disproportionate and poorly targeted old EU ruling” had blocked thousands of homes being built in the UK.

“Thankfully we can now reverse that, and alongside that we are investing hundreds of millions of pounds to continue protecting and enhancing our precious natural environment,” he said.

Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey said: “These new plans will cut nutrients and help support England’s precious habitats whilst unlocking the new homes that local communities need.”

Labour’s shadow housing secretary Lisa Nandy said: “With housebuilding projected to fall to the lowest level since World War Two and our rivers full of sewage, the Conservatives are failing on both housing and the environment.”

And Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey said: “Our rivers and our seas need more protection, not less”.

The Wildlife Trust’s Mr Bennett told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme the nutrient neutral rules are “very modest” as they “require the housebuilders not to cut pollution, but just to stop it getting worse”.

“Unfortunately, the housebuilders have been adept over many years at wriggling out of their environmental commitments and they’ve succeeded yet again,” Mr Bennett added.

Clean rivers campaigner Feargal Sharkey has described the government’s scrapping of pollution rules as “a complete and utter shambles”.

He told BBC Radio 4’s the World at One programme “the environment has now been left to fend for itself”.

Water pollution became a highly politicised issue over the summer, with the Liberal Democrats accusing water firms in England and Wales of failing to reveal how much sewage was being pumped into rivers, lakes and coastlines.

Industry body Water UK called the claim “fabricated and completely false”, saying firms were fixing the problem.