Sky News

Five Labour mayors are meeting to issue a plea to the Prime Minister not to scrap the HS2 link between Birmingham and Manchester.

London mayor Sadiq Khan has joined a group of four northern mayors in Leeds to sign a letter to Rishi Sunak .

They will also call on the government to commit to delivering Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) in full.

The government has said no decision has been made on whether to axe The Line from The Midlands to the North West .

Alongside Mr Khan, West Yorkshire 's Tracy Brabin , Greater Manchester 's Andy Burnham , Steve Rotheram , mayor of Liverpool City Region and South Yorkshire 's Oliver Coppard are attending The Meeting .

Mr Burnham has previously said scrapping the HS2 extension to Manchester " rips the heart" out of the east-west NPR scheme and would " leave the north of England with Victorian infrastructure, probably for the rest of this century".

In an open letter on Monday, Mr Burnham and Bev Craig, leader of Manchester City Council, said they " could be open to a discussion" about prioritising the northern section of the HS2 line so it enabled NPR to be built first.

" This would be conditional on two things: NPR being built in full, with an underground station at Manchester Piccadilly and a new line via Bradford; and a clear commitment that HS2 to Manchester is not being scrapped but re-phased and the protections left in place, " it added.

The mayors will sign their joint letter ahead of a Transport for the North board meeting.

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Culture secretary Lucy Frazer said the government would " listen to a wide variety of voices" when it came to considering HS2.

Asked whether the Prime Minister and chancellor would be listening to The Plea by the mayors, She Said : " As you know, it's the responsibility of the government to keep all projects under consideration. And that's what the chancellor is doing.

" He is, as he does on all matters which are spending billions of pounds of taxpayers' funding, looking at a whole range of projects to make sure that they are value for money. "

The High Speed rail project is intended to link London, The Midlands and the north of England.

The First part, between west London and Birmingham, is already being constructed.

However, in late 2021 the planned eastern leg between Birmingham and Leeds was axed and in March it was announced that building The Line between Birmingham and Crewe, And Then onto Manchester, would be delayed for at least two years.

The Last official estimate on HS2 costs, excluding the cancelled eastern section, added up to about £71bn.

But This Was in 2019 prices so it does not account for The Rise in costs for materials and wages since then, with some reports suggesting The Price tag may now have soared past £100bn.

Speaking on Tuesday, Home Office minister Chris Philp said the Prime Minister and Chancellor Jeremy Hunt were reviewing The Project now the costs have " gone up a lot".

" It's roughly tripled I think since it was first conceived, " he told Sky News .

" No decisions have been taken about The Remaining stages of HS2 but I do know the Chancellor and the Prime Minister are looking at how the cost can be controlled. "

Source of news: bbc.com