Rishi Sunak unleashed a Tory civil war by announcing the scrapping of the northern leg of HS2 in a move the former prime minister David Cameron said showed the country was heading in the wrong direction.
After days of speculation, Sunak confirmed he was axeing the Birmingham to Manchester part of the project and would use the £36bn of savings to fund a series of other transport schemes dubbed Network North.
Cameron led the criticism of the announcement, which it emerged was made without consulting the cabinet, parliament, councils or Network Rail, warning that it passed up a once in a generation opportunity.
"It will help to fuel the views of those who argue that we can no longer think or act for the long-term as a country; that we are heading in the wrong direction," Cameron warned. He said the announcement threw away "15 years of cross-party consensus, sustained over six administrations, and will make it much harder to build consensus for any future long-term projects".
Sunak told Tory activists in Manchester that he was focused on the long-term as he presented himself - the fifth Tory prime minister in 13 unbroken years of the party's rule - as the change candidate at the next election.
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