'It's laughable': mayors across the north react to Sunak scrapping HS2 leg

Rishi Sunak announced the cancellation of the HS2 rail link from Birmingham to Manchester in his speech to the Conservative party conference. The mayor of Manchester, Andy Burnham, told reporters: 'This city region was entitled to more respect than it's been given' after revealing his council was not consulted over the future of the high-speed railway. Other mayors across the north criticised the prime minister for his decision after years of talks and strategic planning with heads of various counties. The South Yorkshire mayor, Oliver Coppard, told Sky News: 'They are making promises to the north, and casually breaking them'. Sunak said the billions of pounds the leg would have cost would be invested in other infrastructure in the region.