If HS2 is scrapped, spare a thought for the victims no one talks about

Nowhere in the HS2 fallout is there much sympathy for the contractors caught up in this mess, writes Chris Blackhurst. Scrapping the project may mean they never trust the UK government again

Rishi Sunak’s political expediency is being made at the expense of trust (Getty/PA)

Rishi Sunak has an election to fight, he wants to be seen to be bold and decisive. He’s anxious to come across as behaving carefully with the nation’s money.

He’s told repeatedly the cost of HS2 is climbing, well north of £100bn, with years still to go and before the heavy building work in creating the fast link north of Birmingham really begins.

It was an idea proposed by Labour under Gordon Brown, launched by the coalition government and championed by Boris Johnson. Johnson loved his “grand projects”, usually without any thought as to the difficulty entailed and the likely final bill.