Home Secretary Suella Braverman says the world is facing a "hurricane" of mass migration in a speech at the Conservative Party conference
Braverman tells fellow Tories the party has been "too squeamish" in tackling increasing migrant numbers
During her speech, she also announced a plan to ban sex offenders from changing their identities
Labour accused her of having "totally lost control" of border security, and being more interested in launching a leadership bid
Earlier PM Rishi Sunak denied being overshadowed at the conference by fellow Tories and speculation about the future of HS2
Separately, Sunak said he "won't be forced into a premature decision" on the Manchester leg of HS2
Conservative Party deputy chair Nickie Aiken says Rishi Sunak is "right" to delay making a decision on the future of HS2.
Aiken says the PM is looking "at the numbers with the chancellor" and considering "what is best for taxpayers' money”.
"This is not the government's money. This is taxpayers' hard earned money," she tells BBC Radio 5 Live.
HS2 is intended to create high-speed rail links between London and major cities in the Midlands and North of England.
It is aimed at cutting journey times, creating more space on the rail network and more jobs outside London.
But HS2 has faced delays, spiralling costs and cuts.
It was meant to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds.
Lots of work has been done on the section linking London and Birmingham.
But the government scrapped the Leeds leg in 2021, external.
And, as we’ve been telling you, uncertainty over the future of the Birmingham-Manchester leg of the project has been hanging over the Conservative conference, which is taking place in Manchester.
Image source, .
Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent
Downing Street's troubles on this issue began with a major stroke of misfortune.
A Treasury official walking into No 10 for a super-secret meeting about HS2 accidentally flashed a portion of their briefing notes to a camera.
From then, the cat was out of the bag that the project was at least under review, even if it took more bouts of briefing and leaks for it to become clear that Sunak was leaning towards cancelling the line.
It seems Sunak will finally bring clarity to the subject in his conference speech on Wednesday. It is an opportunity for his voice, finally, to become the loudest in a conference which after all is designed to give the public a better idea of his approach to government and his personality.
Once we actually know what will happen to HS2 and what investments the government might be making instead in other transport links within the north, the discussion will move onto those specifics rather than the communications difficulties the Conservatives have had on this subject.
Sunak's supporters will be hoping that the uncertainties of recent days aren't what lingers in the public's memory.
Image source, ReutersRishi Sunak has been speaking with various media outlets this morning - but has been refused to be drawn on the future of HS2.
In his BBC Breakfast interview he said he will not be "forced into a premature decision", and acknowledged that an "enormous amount" of money is being spent on the high speed train line.
But without an answer to repeated questions, pressure continues to grow on the PM.
You can read the full story here.
Jessica Bowles, director of strategic partnerships at the property company Bruntwood, tells BBC Radio 5 Live: "Businesses want certainty, they want to know what’s coming.
"We had a group of businesses looking to invest in Manchester last year, and they had to get a minibus from London to Manchester because the trains were so bad."
Bowles stresses the importance for a long-term solution, explaining that "HS2 takes a lot of traffic off the existing rail network so there’s better infrastructure around the towns and cities".
Quote MessageSeeing this as a full network that's fit for the future is really important for the North and the Midlands, and the UK as a whole."
The government has not said whether separate plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will go ahead if HS2 to Manchester is cancelled.
The line aims to improve connections between Leeds, Manchester and Liverpool, with a mix of new and upgraded lines.
It also uses a section of the HS2 line from Manchester Airport to Manchester Piccadilly, the city's main station. Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham said scrapping the Manchester link "rips the heart" out of NPR.
The northern leg of HS2 is also meant to relieve congestion on the busy West Coast mainline.
Read more here.
Rob Holden is a man who knows a thing or two about building high-speed railway lines and huge projects; he is the former CEO of Crossrail and chairman of HS1 - the link from London St Pancras to the Channel Tunnel near Folkestone.
He says the project was "ill-conceived" and costs have ballooned due to the engineering and environmental mitigations involved with the design of the high-speed scheme.
"Costs rise because of extra commitments which are made during the process," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme earlier today.
"The costs rise because the design of a mega project is not as complete as it should be. There is no doubt the costs have risen, that speaks for a lack of control.
"The overall cost of the railway should never have been as much as it was because it was designed to operate at a speed which is not appropriate for this country."
As a reminder, the HS2 route was designed to take trains at 400 kmh , external(250mph), while the trains themselves will run at top speeds of around 360 kmh (225 mph), external. Some have argued that allowing such speed is unneccesary and expensive - pointing out France's TGV only runs at 320 kmh., external
Holden says he applied to be part of the HS2 project, but says he heard a "message from a senior official" at the Department for Transport said he had "no qualifications or experience".
Justice Secretary Alex Chalk says he has confidence Rishi Sunak will "make the right call" over the future of HS2.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today Programme the PM is someone who "immerses themselves absolutely into the detail, who follows the evidence" and will make a decision "coolly, calmly and unemotionally".
Asked about the possibility of an emergency cabinet meeting on HS2 tomorrow morning, Chalk says that "certainly hasn't been drawn to my attention".
Earlier this morning we heard from the head of the firm charged with building HS2's new stations in Birmingham and Euston in London, who said he would be "extremely disappointed" if the project was scrapped.
Mark Reynolds, chief executive of Mace Group, told BBC Radio 4's Today programme that he's heard speculation HS2 will be cancelled and it "seems to be true".
Speaking from the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Reynolds says he spoke to the PM about the project, but Sunak "dodged the question and moved on very quickly".
He said axing the Birmingham to Manchester link would "undermine investment in the UK" and foreign investors are "not going to come if we do not continue to invest in our infrastructure, so that we can create those jobs, homes and places for people to live and work".
Image source, .Earlier on BBC Breakfast, Rishi Sunak was pressed again and again on the future of the Birmingham to Manchester leg.
During one exchange he told Sally Nugent: “I know you want to keep asking, I know there’s lots of speculation, but what I’m going to say is I won’t be forced into a premature decision because it’s good for someone’s TV programme.”
Have a watch below.
The cost of the project, the biggest of its kind in Europe, has been growing.
The first estimate in 2010 was for about £33bn. The government's most recent official estimate is about £71bn. This doesn't include what's left of the Eastern leg, from Birmingham to the East Midlands.
It allows up to £7bn for Birmingham to Crewe, and up to £19bn for Crewe to Manchester.
But this is all in 2019 prices, so it does not account for inflation, which has meant rising costs for things like materials and wages.
An official government review in 2020 mentioned one estimate of £106.6bn, although this included the eastern leg.
Long-time HS2 critic Lord Berkeley, who was vice-chair of the review, said HS2 is now more likely to cost around £180bn. Some £24.7bn has been spent on HS2, as of February 2023.
This includes at least £22.5bn on Phase 1 and £2.3bn on Phase 2, including on the purchase of more than 400 properties between Birmingham and Manchester.
In September, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt said that costs were getting "totally out of control".
And cabinet minister Grant Shapps told the BBC that the Ukraine war and a spike in inflation mean any government would need to make "serious decisions" on affordability.
In a separate interview with Times Radio, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak says the costs of the HS2 project have escalated and are now "enormous".
"It's clear that the costs of this programme have escalated," he says.
"The sums involved, as you've heard, are enormous."
Image source, ReutersThere we go - Rishi Sunak's first BBC Breakfast interview since becoming prime minister last November. Let's have a quick recap of the key takeaways:
There has much speculation about HS2 and whether the Birmingham to Manchester leg will be scrapped amid escalating costs.
Jeremy Hunt said yesterday that "it costs ten times more" to build high speed rail in the UK compared with France.
BBC Verify has asked the Treasury how this figure was calculated, but has not received a reply yet.
There are no recent comparisons between the cost in France and the UK.
In 2015, a House of Lords report from 2015, external estimated the cost of building HS2 at “up to nine times higher than the cost of constructing high speed lines in France”.
The report estimated the HS2 Phase One construction (which started at 2017) cost at around £90m per kilometre while similar projects in France, carried out between 1990 to 2011, cost between £9m-£15m per kilometre (in 2010 prices).
The report said possible reasons for the price difference include expensive tunnelling required in the UK but not in France, the cost of a new station at Birmingham and renovation of Euston station, as well as the state of the UK railway construction industry.
Sunak is pressed again about Tory MPs expressing concern about losing control over HS2 and it being a distraction during the party conference.
The PM says he is talking to MPs who he says are not speaking about HS2.
Before ending the BBC Breakfast interview, he insists an offer of a 9% pay rise is on the table for the British Medical Association as he is asked about continuing strike action by junior doctors.
Sunak says it is based on the recommendation of an independent body as he finishes by saying waiting times in hospitals have been "brought right down".
Later today we'll be hearing from Health Secretary Steve Barclay at the Tory Party Conference.
Sunak is asked now how he is going to get people in the North to trust him again.
Sunak says he's a northern MP and says as chancellor he created free ports across the North, and that he put the Treasury in Darlington.
"That's my commitment to the North," he says.
Sunak adds that his party announced £1bn in long-term funding for dozens of towns across the North and the Midlands.
More from Sunak who is asked about the handling of the announcement and the general conversation around the HS2 project during the Tory party conference.
The PM says he doesn't think it has been handled poorly.
"I really think it has gone well," he tells BBC Breakfast.
More from Sunak now.
He's asked again if HS2 will reach Manchester.
Sunak says he knows there's lots of speculation, but he will not be forced into a premature decision "because it's good for someone's TV programme".
He says he wants to make the right decision for the country and people expect him to take the time to make the right long-term decision.
The first question for Sunak is unsurprisingly on the main story of the day - ongoing uncertainty of the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2.
Rishi Sunak is asked if he can end that uncertainty, to which the PM replies saying he wants to take his time to get the decision right.
The government has "absolutely not" given up on HS2, he says.
"We've got spades on the ground," he says. "But it's not the only thing we're doing," he adds, listing funding for other projects to improve high streets and transport links for towns.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is now up on Breakfast.
We'll be bringing you all the PM has to say and his answers to questions about HS2 and other issues, so stick with us. You can also watch our live stream at the top of this page.