Judith Moritz
Reporting from Manchester Piccadilly

Image source, PA Media

Just a stone’s throw from the Conservative conference, the mood at Manchester Piccadilly station is one of weary resignation.

The passengers I've spoken to are struggling to travel on yet another strike day, and the news about HS2 is hardly a surprise. "Trains? Don’t get me started!" is the common reaction when I ask for views.

But when you probe for more detail, much like the train schedules, things aren't so straightforward.

The first six passengers I met told me that HS2 wouldn't make a difference to their lives. Travel to London wasn't on their agenda. But travel across the local area, over the Pennines, and in and out of Manchester airport, was a priority.

Local business, civic and political leaders have slated the decision to cancel the new line.

And some of the passengers I’ve met have echoed those sentiments, saying it will only serve to reinforce the North/South divide. But others are clearly more bothered about local services, and the desperate need for improved links between northern towns and cities.

Most folk here are still unclear about how much of what’s been announced today is genuinely new. But there’s one thing everyone seems to agree on - train travel is a mess, and improvements can’t come quickly enough.

Labour's Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has just been speaking to reporters, and has criticised the prime minister for scrapping large parts of the high-speed rail link HS2.

It's not a "coherent plan", he says, and doesn't solve the problem of bottlenecks and lack of capacity on the rail network in the north of England.

"We were entitled to better than what we've had," Burnham adds.

He says the decision to scrap parts of HS2 should not have been announced at party conference, but should have been discussed across political parties.

If you need a reminder, here's the state of play of the HS2 project:

Image source, .

And finally, there is money for the rest of the country, which - the government says - will go to:

• Rail improvements in South-West England
• Keeping the £2 bus fare in England until the end of December 2024

• "Transforming" Ely Junction in Cambridgeshire
• Improvements to the A75 between Gretna and Stranraer
• £1bn to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line
• "Billions" to fix potholes on roads

Almost £10bn saved from scrapping parts of HS2 is earmarked for projects in the Midlands, including:

• Funding the (already proposed) , externalMidlands Rail Hub in full with £1.75bn, connecting 50 stations
• £1.5bn guaranteed local transport funding for the new East Midlands Mayor
• £1bn extra local transport funding for West Midlands City Region

• A new £2.2bn fund for local transport outside the city regions

As per the prime minister's office, here is some of where the HS2 money will be spent in the North:

• £2bn for a new station at Bradford and a new connection to Manchester
• £2.5bn to deliver a new "mass transit system" in West Yorkshire
• £3bn for upgraded and electrified lines between Manchester and Sheffield, Sheffield and Leeds, Sheffield and Hull, and Hull-Leeds
• A new £3.3bn fund for road resurfacing

As a reminder, the government has also announced "a further £12bn to better connect Liverpool and Manchester", on top of the reallocated HS2 money.

We've just had some more detail from the prime minister's office on where the HS2 budget will be spent.

Here's how it breaks down:

• Scrapping the rest of HS2 will save £36bn
• Of that, £19.8bn will be spent in the North
• £9.6bn will be spent in the Midlands
• £6.5bn will be spent in the rest of the country
• On top of that, there will be a further £12bn to "better connect Manchester to Liverpool"

Our next posts will look over spending in the North, Midlands, and rest of the country.

James FitzGerald
Live reporter

It's been a breathless few hours in the newsroom, with three key announcements in Sunak's conference speech.

Scaled-back railways, smoking and schooling were all on the agenda as the PM effectively fired the starting gun on the Tories' general election campaign.

It's worth saying that some of the plans he outlined today will be issues for whoever leads the next government; others were things that can be implemented in the shorter-term.

With our editors' hats on, Dulcie Lee and I are continuing to comb through Sunak's words.

We're about to hear from Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, we'll run through where the saved HS2 money is going, and have some fact-checking from BBC Verify, as well as reaction from outside Manchester Piccadilly station.

The Conservative mayor of the West Midlands says he's "very disappointed" that Rishi Sunak has axed the HS2 rail link beyond his region.

But, "compared to what could have happened, this is a good compromise," Andy Street tells BBC political editor Chris Mason - alluding to today's confirmation that the line will still link Birmingham and London.

Sunak namechecked Street twice during his speech, and the mayor, who has spent Tory Party conference lobbying to keep HS2 intact, says a meeting he had with the PM was "cordial" and they left on good terms.

Street also confirms that he will remain a Conservative, having earlier repeatedly refused to rule out resigning, and says he intends to run again as mayor.

Faisal Islam
Economics editor

Rishi Sunak said that all the £36bn savings from HS2 would be redeployed on other transport projects across the country - but it's unclear when that money will be spent.

Information gleaned from a leaked photo of a government document on HS2 suggested there was clear possibility that some of the money saved could be used to help the chancellor meet his self-imposed borrowing limits.

Opponents of the HS2 decision have already accused the PM of canning a piece of strategic infrastructure to create space for pre-election tax cuts.

But government sources tell me that they do not expect any upfront HS2 savings to help improve the government’s financial position - and therefore help with any tax cuts.

Of course, much will depend on the detail of the projects the government is investing in.

Image source, Reuters

A little earlier, the prime minister confirmed much of the high-speed rail link HS2 is to be scrapped. Here's some snap reaction:

The Labour mayor of Manchester Andy Burnham said there was "frustration and anger" over the decision.

"It always seems that people here where I live and where I kind of represent can be treated as second class citizens when it comes to transport."

Henri Murison, from business group Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said the decision was a "national tragedy - economically at least".

Mick Lynch, general secretary of the RMT union said the "incompetence of successive Tory governments has now cost the taxpayer billions and led to this disastrous decision".

Darren Caplan, chief executive of the Railway Industry Association, said workers were "extremely disappointed" by the decision - which he described as an unnecessary "nuclear option".

Sunak pledged to "reinvest every penny" saved - which he says is £36bn - in rail, roads and buses in the North, the Midlands and across the country.

Read more here.

Branwen Jeffreys
Education editor

The first pupils to take the new Advanced British Standard in England, unveiled in the prime minister's speech, would be those starting primary school now - so if you're about to take A-levels or T-levels, you needn't worry.

This is a long-term proposal, to be rolled out in 2033-34, rather than immediate change to 16-19 education.

For the moment, students in colleges will continue to have the option of A-levels and the relatively new qualification, T-levels. One T-level is equivalent to three A-levels.

A striking aspect of the plan is that students would be able to combine both academic and vocational elements, with typically three major and two minor aspects.

They would include maths and English up to the age of 18, which would bring England more in line with international standards, where subjects are not narrowed down.

Sunak knew something had to changepublished at 14:05 British Summer Time 4 October 2023

14:05 BST 4 October 2023

Chris Mason
Political editor, reporting from the Conservative conference

This was an attempt by Rishi Sunak to reset, reboot, reenergise his premiership - to grab politics by the scruff of the neck.

So what's the strategy here?

The prime minister and his senior advisers got together over the summer and realised something had to change.

They had steadied the ship of government but still looked set to lose the next election.

Conservative MPs were - and are - contemplating defeat. Something had to change.

And this is what they want the change to look like: Scrapping A levels, scrapping HS2, or a big chunk of it, banning smoking for the next generation.

"Is this Rishi Sunak unleashed?" I just asked the Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch. "Yes!" she beamed.

And yes, plenty of this will force Labour to take a position.

The big question, though, is a simple one: Will all this be enough to revitalise the prime minister’s political prospects - or look like a last minute roll or the dice?

Rishi Sunak used his first Tory conference speech as party leader to lay out several new policies - and tell party members more about him.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

We've just had some more detail from the prime minister's office on the HS2 plans.

In short, only the London to Birmingham leg remains - with billions of pounds instead earmarked for northern transport.

See where that leaves the overall HS2 project in this map:

Image source, .

Other details include:

• HS2 will run from Euston to the West Midlands, with a station at Old Oak Common in west London and Birmingham Interchange
• There will then be branches to central Birmingham and Handsacre, near Lichfield – where HS2 trains for Manchester, Liverpool and Scotland will join the existing West Coast Main Line (this will run slower than an HS2 line as it won't be on new tracks)
• HS2 trains will run from Euston to central Birmingham in 49 minutes, 30 minutes faster than now; and from Euston to Manchester in 1hr 40 minutes, 27 minutes faster than now, the PM's office says

The start of a new, risky approach from Sunakpublished at 13:36 British Summer Time 4 October 2023

13:36 BST 4 October 2023

Henry Zeffman
Chief political correspondent, at Conservative conference

Image source, Reuters

That was an audacious speech from a prime minister often accused of political caution.

Conceding that the public thinks it’s time for a change carries significant opportunities – and significant risks.

If Rishi Sunak can convince voters that he offers a better chance of a new approach to government than Sir Keir Starmer, he may yet arrest the persistent and wide polling gap.

Yet if voters conclude instead that the fifth Conservative prime minister in a row does not embody the change they want, then he will not have much room to manoeuvre or change approach.

He has just conceded, fairly explicitly, that he thinks his Conservative predecessors failed in various ways.

So he won’t be able to switch to defending the Conservatives’ record. Whatever Sunak can achieve between now and the next election – that is what he will be running on.

Today marks the start of a new and more risky approach from Rishi Sunak.

Becky Morton
Reporting from the Conservative conference

I'm outside the hall, and Matthew Foss, a 16-year-old Conservative activist from Horsham, says he was impressed by the speech and praises plans to raise the smoking age and tackle vaping.

On HS2 he welcomes the focus on new transport links in the north of England, saying alternatives to the high speed rail project are “both possible and efficient”.

But he adds that it’s “unfortunate” it’s taken so long to realise this.

Michelle Kazi, a Conservative activist from Croydon, says overall she loved the speech but was “disappointed” at the announcement on HS2.

She describes the decision to scrap the Manchester leg of the high speed line as “flippant”.

Not the first promise on 'rip-off degrees'published at 13:23 British Summer Time 4 October 2023

13:23 BST 4 October 2023

Branwen Jeffreys
Education editor

This is not the first time a promise has been made to end “rip off degrees” in England.

The Office for Students, which regulates universities in England, is being asked to limit the number of students that can be recruited onto degrees judged to not deliver good outcomes for their graduates.

One of the key measures of this will be high drop-out rates, or poor progression into a graduate job or further study.

Overall, England has no limits on the number of university students and it’s notable that Rishi Sunak is not mentioning re-introducing a cap overall.

Here's the moment the prime minister confirmed the scaling-back of the HS2 link, after days of refusing to comment.

Becky Morton
Reporting from the Conservative conference

Image source, EPA

After a rousing end to his speech, Sunak gets a standing ovation from the audience and is cheered as he leaves the hall, shaking hands with activists on his way out.

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt mouthed "well done" to the PM, and the prime minister in turn gave a thumbs up as he shook hands and exchanged hugs.

Image source, EPA

There was a lot in that hour-long speech from the prime minister.

Here are the main policy announcements:

• Sunak cancels the "rest of HS2" - meaning everything that isn't on the London-Birmingham leg
• Every penny saved, he says, will be reinvested in transport - meaning £36bn for the North, Midlands, and "across the country"
• HS2 will go to Euston, as planned - but the Euston project will be run by a new management team
• The £2 bus fare cap in England will remain
• Sunak proposes raising the legal age to buy cigarettes every year, meaning someone aged 14 today will never be able to buy them legally
• He also proposes a new law meaning full-life terms for "sexual and sadistic murders"
• Sunak proposes a new Advanced British Standard, which brings together A-Levels and T-Levels
• They will be all for all students in England, and will typically include five subjects
• There will be a £30,000 tax-free bonus for teachers of key subjects across the first five years of their career