Senior Welsh Tory questions HS2 status as England and Wales project
- Published
The high speed rail project's classification means there is no additional cash for Wales
A senior Welsh Conservative says he is struggling to understand why HS2, which will now only be built to Birmingham, is classed as an England and Wales project by the UK government.
Peter Fox said he believed HS2 should be an England-only scheme.
But because of its classification the high speed rail project has not triggered extra money for Wales.
On Wednesday a UK minister said the project was still likely to be used by passengers from North Wales.
All parties in the Senedd say Wales should benefit from extra funding triggered by the building of HS2, thought to be worth up to £2bn.
The HS2 high speed railway project has been controversial in Wales because spending on the project has not resulted in additional cash for Welsh infrastructure projects.
With heavy rail investment handled by Westminster, the UK government has argued that HS2 will benefit people in Wales as well as in England.
It has continued to make that case, despite plans for the line to be extended to Manchester and Crewe being recently scrapped by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
Speaking on BBC Wales Live, Welsh Conservative shadow finance minister Peter Fox said: "I would like my UK colleagues to explain to me exactly why this is an English/Welsh project because some of us are struggling to see that."
Asked if he thought it is an English project because the train will only go to Birmingham, he said: "It seems that way to a lot of us.
"I'm supportive of us gaining some of that consequential and we will be talking to our colleagues in Westminster to put that point to them."
The Welsh Conservatives began calling for HS2 cash to be spent in Wales at a conference in 2022.
At the time, the party said the money should be given direct to the UK government-owned Network Rail to spend - rather than the Welsh government, which is the usual route for consequential funding.
The position is at odds with the Conservative UK government's policy in Westminster.
In the Commons on Wednesday Plaid Cymru MP Liz Saville Roberts said the previous plan to go to Crewe had been the "central argument to withholding billions of pounds from Wales, by claiming HS2 benefitted us".
She asked: "Now that the link at Crewe is another casualty of Tory chaos, will Wales office ministers stay true to their own logic, and urge the Treasury to class HS2 as English only?"
Wales Office minister James Davies replied that rail infrastructure is not a devolved issue - meaning it is controlled in Westminster rather than Cardiff.
Mr Davies said: "I would argue that investment in Great Britain's rail infrastructure is of value to those in north Wales and the rest of Wales".
He added that HS2 was "an important connection to the West Midlands" and "passengers from London to north Wales are likely to still use that".
Related topics
- Published3 October 2023
- Published10 October 2023
