James Forsyth James Forsyth

Will HS2 survive?

‘No one disagrees with what the government is trying to do but what they do worry about, is the capacity of the state to deliver it’, one Tory grandee tells me. As I wrote in the Sun, the concern is that the government sees infrastructure as the way to boost Britain’s growth rate, but these projects tend to come in late and over budget in this country. The danger for the Tories is that at the next election in 2024, they may have little more than plans to show for their efforts.

Downing Street is acutely aware of this risk, hence their focus on ‘delivery’ and change that people can feel in their daily lives. They know that getting those who voted Tory for the first time to stick with them will not be easy.

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