Boris Johnson vows to 'keep digging' on HS2 despite 'profligate' spending on controversial rail link
3 min read
Boris Johnson has dropped a fresh hint that the Government will press ahead with the controversial High Speed 2 rail link.
The Prime Minister said "in a hole the size of HS2, the only thing to do is keep digging", amid reports that both he and Chancellor Sajid Javid are behind the project despite delays and spiralling costs.
The comments came in an interview with Sky News' FYI, which is aimed at children and sees young people interview politicians.
One 10 year-old asked Mr Johnson to explain the thinking behind HS2, which the Prime Minister described as "a colossal railway line".
He said: "Now the truth is, the people who did it spent far too much money, they were profligate with the way they did it. Do you know what I mean by profligate? They just wasted money.
"And the whole way it was managed was hopeless."
But, in a fresh sign the project will continue despite a string of Tory objections, the Prime Minister added: "So we’re in a hole, we’re in a mess. But we’ve got to get out of it. And we need a way forward, so we’re thinking about how to sort it out now."
And he said: "In a hole the size of HS2, the only thing to do is keep digging... That’s what you’ve got to do. It’s a big hole."
The comments come after the leak of a report being drawn up for the Government on the way the scheme has been handled. The report predicts that HS2's costs could balloon to almost double their original estimate of £56bn.
Whitehall's National Audit Office watchdog meanwhile said in a report published this week that the rail project - which would connect 10 of the UK's largest cities including London, Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester - was "over budget and behind schedule".
And condemned the Department for Transport (DfT), wider government and HS2 Limited for inadequately managing risks to taxpayers’ money.
The project has also been the subject of heated debate on the Conservative benches, with some of the party's newest MPs already vowing to prevent it from going ahead.
But others have urged the Prime Minister not to abandon the project, which they argue is crucial in making good on the Prime Minister's promises to boost connectivity between the UK's regions.
And Andy Street, the Conservative mayor of the West Midlands, warned this week: "We went into paralysis while we sorted out how we were going to sort out Brexit.
"We are just coming through that, making our great statements about Global Britain open to the world, and what’s the next thing we do? We lose our nerve on probably the best demonstration of our self-confidence."
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