HS2: Prime minister refuses to confirm Euston as terminus

For the first time, Rishi Sunak has publicly endorsed London's Conservative mayoral candidate, Susan Hall

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has refused to confirm whether London's Euston station will be the terminus for the HS2 project.

Speaking to BBC London he instead praised the "fantastic connectivity" of Old Oak Common station which will be part of the new line to Birmingham.

Mr Sunak also endorsed Susan Hall as his party's London mayoral candidate.

His sit down interview came ahead of the Conservative Party conference starting on 1 October.

The prime minister covered a range of issues in his interview with BBC London political editor Tim Donovan:

HS2

Mr Sunak refused to provide an update on the delays to the redevelopment of Euston station as part of the High Speed 2 project.

He declined to say if he thought the HS2 rail line was value for money, despite being asked four times.

Instead he praised Old Oak Common station in west London's suburbs which will be part of the new HS2 line.

Mr Sunak described it as a "world class station with fantastic connectivity thanks to the Elizabeth line", adding that the station is "rightly getting the investment it needs".

On the increasing costs of the project, the prime minister said that funding was "greenlit in 2012 before I was an MP" and that updated costs were provided in 2020, prior to him becoming chancellor.

Earlier this week, London mayor Sadiq Khan wrote to Mr Sunak saying: "The public would rightly be dismayed were all of this time and money spent on a line that took longer to reach central London than the existing route, and was devoid of any proper connections to the north of England."

Susan Hall

Despite being announced as the Conservative party mayoral candidate back in July, this is the first time that Mr Sunak has spoken out in support of her.

The prime minister said she was a "great candidate and has dedicated herself to improving the lives of Londoners".

He added Ms Hall will be "fantastic at reducing crime, building the housing London needs and she is right to say Ulez is the wrong thing to do".

Mr Sunak also described those who claim she does not have the profile to make an impact in London as "patronising".

Ulez

The prime minister said that it was not the Uxbridge by-election that persuaded him to ditch net zero goals, and that he had "been concerned about what ordinary families were being asked to bear" for a while.

He added that he wanted to take a "pragmatic approach" to net zero.

Sadiq Khan has described the Ultra Low Emission Zone (Ulez) as the "best ever two-for-one offer", which tackles both air pollution and climate change.

Crime

Following the fatal stabbing of a teenage girl in Croydon, Rishi Sunak reiterated the need to "clamp down on knife crime, increase police on the street and give them the powers, like stop and search, to do their job".

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