​​Minister defends No 10 claim that HS2 decision had not yet been taken despite prerecorded announcement – UK politics live | Politics

A record number of hate crimes were committed against transgender people last year in England and Wales, even as racist and homophobic hate crimes recorded by police fell for the first time on record, Michael Goodier reports.

HS2 will not be extended to Euston unless enough private investment is secured, PA Media reports. PA says:

PA understands that Rishi Sunak’s commitment to extend the high-speed railway to the central London station is contingent on a substantial proportion of the cost being met by private funds.

If not enough money is found, HS2 will permanently stop at Old Oak Common in the capital’s western suburbs.

Extending HS2 to Euston involves digging a 4.5-mile tunnel from Old Oak Common and building a six-platform station next to the existing West Coast Main Line terminus.

At his speech to the Conservative party conference on Wednesday, the prime minister said: “We will complete the line from Birmingham to Euston.”

He added that the government’s new plan for the central London station will generate “£6.5 billion of savings”.

A No 10 source said the figure was a combination of replanning the project after considering “what is no longer required” and a developer contribution model such as the one used in Battersea, south-west London.

A Department for Transport (DfT) document stated that the development of Battersea Power Station and nearby Nine Elms “secured £9bn of private sector investment”.

DfT officials believe the capacity of Old Oak Common as a terminus station can be stretched to eight trains per hour, which is the same as planned for Euston after the scrapping of HS2 north of Birmingham.

But there are concerns at the comparative lack of options for onward journeys from Old Oak Common.

Government modelling shows two-thirds of people would prefer to travel to or from Euston.

HS2 work at Euston was paused in February because costs had ballooned to £4.8bn compared with an initial budget of £2.6bn.

The DfT said it will appoint a development company, separate from HS2 Ltd, to manage the delivery of the Euston project.

Euston was initially due to have 11 platforms for high-speed trains but will now have six.

Railway consultant William Barter, whose recent clients include the DfT, told PA the plan was “totally unambitious” as it “rules out options” for expanding the railway north of Birmingham in the future.

More than 80,000 complaints were made against police in England and Wales last year, a rise of 8% on the previous 12 months, PA Media reports. PA says:

The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) said more than half the cases, 55%, were about delivery of duties and service; 20% were about police powers, policies and procedures; and 13% about individual behaviours.

While only 1% of complaints were about discreditable conduct, the number of these allegations rose from 622 in 2021-22 to 743 this year, an increase of 19%.

The IOPC annual report on police complaints, published today, showed that a total of 81,142 complaints were logged in 2022-23, which included 134,952 separate allegations.

When they receive a complaint, police forces can handle the complaint informally, or the issue goes a stage further and is handled formally.

Of the 30,521 complaints handled formally in 2022-23, about half (52%) had at least one allegation that led to an explanation or apology, a rise of 10% on last year.

No further action was taken in 40% of formally handled complaints, down 8% on 2022-23.

There were 468 of the most serious cases where misconduct proceedings are a possible outcome.

The figures showed that 113 complaints led to a misconduct meeting or hearing, up from 68 in 2021-22 and 18 in 2020-21.

The acting IOPC director general, Tom Whiting, said: “Our annual police complaints statistics broadly reflect public concern with day-to-day policing issues and the level of service that people directly experience, rather than high-profile police misconduct cases that have repeatedly dominated news headlines.

“It is notable that by far the most commonly recorded complaint type continues to relate to police service delivery such as a lack of updates or delays in responses, rather than concerns around police misconduct.”

At the European Political Community summit in Spain today Rishi Sunak will be urging European countries to act together to tackle people-smuggling.

He will be co-chairing what No 10 describes as a “small group meeting” on the topic with Giorgia Meloni, the Italian prime minister. In a statement issued in advance, he said:

Levels of illegal migration to mainland Europe are the highest they have been in nearly a decade. With thousands of people dying at sea, propelled by people smugglers, the situation is both immoral and unsustainable. We cannot allow criminal gangs to decide who comes to Europe’s shores.

When it comes to facing down the threat from Putin, confronting the risks and opportunities of AI or dealing with illegal migration, there is strength in unity.

These issues transcend national borders and require creative Europe-wide solutions – that is what I will be discussing with my fellow leaders at the European Political Community summit in Spain today.

According to a report in the Telegraph last week, Sunak “caused havoc” by trying to get the Spanish, who are chairing the EPC summit, to make people-smuggling the main focus. But the Spanish government refused, and insisted on artificial intelligence, the war in Ukraine and graduate mobility as priorities, the Telegraph said.

The EPC is a forum where EU countries liaise with other European countries not in the EU. It was set up last year, partly in response to Brexit, which left a big European country outside the orbit of the EU.

Yesterday Sunak sounded less keen on “strength in unity”. In his speech to the Tory conference, he criticised Labour for wanting to “cook up some deal with the EU” as a means of tackling small boats.

There is more coverage of the EPC summit on our Europe live blog.

In his Today interview Rishi Sunak claimed the next election would be a choice between him and Keir Starmer.

When it was put to him that he could not credibly ask people to trust him in the future when he was tearing up promises his party made on HS2 earlier during its 13 years in power, Sunak replied:

This is about leadership. I’ve been prime minister for less than a year.

The choice at the next election is between me and Keir Starmer. I’m the person that’s doing politics differently. I’m the person making the big decisions that are going to change our country for the future.

In his Today interview Rishi Sunak rejected the argument that the HS2 U-turn would discourage global investors.

Yesterday the CBI said the cancellation of the phase two link to Manchester would send “a damaging signal about the UK’s status as global destination for investment”.

But when this argument was put to him, Sunak said he did not accept that. He said:

I speak to investors all the time in this job … that’s my background. It’s a world I know well …

When I talk to investors, there’s many things they want from our country. They want us to focus on skills … They want us to make sure that our regulatory regime post-Brexit is competitive. They want to make sure our tax regime is competitive. We’re doing all those things. And the proof is that billions of pounds are coming in, jobs are being created.

I can tell you, they do not talk to me about the railroad between Birmingham and Manchester. They talk to me about all these other things.

Railroad is an Americanism for railway. Sunak spent a lot of time studying and working in the US before be became an MP and, according to a profile in the FT earlier this year, railroad data is something that particularly interests him. He views figures for freight movements by train in the US as a particularly reliable guide to economic performance.

As Aubrey Allegretti reports, in his Today interview Sunak also rejected claims that cancelling the Manchester leg of HS2 would leave it as just a “shuttle service” between London and Birmingham.

Rishi Sunak has partially defended Suella Braverman’s recent anti-immigration speeches – without saying he was “happy” about her language.

In his interview with Nick Robinson from the Today programme, broadcast this morning but recorded yesterday, Sunak was asked how he squared what he said in his speech yesterday about the UK being “the most successful multiethnic democracy on earth” with what Braverman said in her recent speech in Washington about immigration posing an existential threat to the west.

Sunak implied there was no inconsistency because they were talking about different things. Braverman was talking about illegal immigration, he said. He went on:

Illegal migration is putting unsustainable pressure on our country. And, for me, it is non-negotiable that it should be the British people who decide who comes to our country and not criminal gangs.

Asked if he agreed with Braverman when she said in her party conference speech on Tuesday that an immigration “hurricane” was coming to the UK, Sunak said:

I made a speech myself eight months ago about illegal migration. I pointed out the number of people who potentially could come to the UK, figures that have been mentioned by international organisations. That’s clearly unsustainable, which is why we’re taking action to stop the boats.

But he also believed that Britain was one of the most welcoming and tolerant countries in the world, he said.

Asked about the difference in aspirations between his parents, who came to the UK as immigrants, and people arriving on small boats, Sunak said there was “a big difference between coming here illegally and legally”.

Robinson then put it to Sunak that he was “happy” with the language used by Braverman. At that point Sunak pushed back, saying: “Your words, not mine.”

When he was asked if that meant he was not happy with Braverman’s rhetoric, Sunak just said he had been very clear about his views.

Good morning. Westminster is still digesting the repercussions from Rishi Sunak’s conference speech yesterday, although Sunak himself will have other things on his mind; he’s attending the European Political Community summit in Spain.

The speech has had an enthusiastic reception in the Tory papers, but not elsewhere, and it is still not clear whether or not Sunak will garner any electoral credit for the decision to scrap the Manchester leg of HS2. One PR aspect of the announcement is getting attention today, because Mark Harper, the transport secretary, has had to explain why No 10 kept telling us all that no decision about HS2 had been taken when Sunak had already recorded a video announcing it.

Downing Street posted a video from Sunak justifying the decision on X (formerly Twitter) at 1.18pm yesterday. It was filmed in Downing Street, and even with the most brilliant high-speed rail in the world, or one of his helicopters, he would not have been able to get there that quickly after his speech in Manchester at noon. It was recorded in advance.

That is routine in government communications. But, as rumours about HS2 swirled around Manchester during the Tory conference, the government went further than saying it would not comment on speculation; on Monday No 10 issued a statement saying no final decision had been taken, and Jeremy Hunt, the chancellor, insisted on Tuesday that, still, no formal decision had been taken. Sunak was claiming the same day that he wanted to take his time, and would not be rushed.

This morning, in an interview with Kay Burley on Sky News, Harper dismissed suggestions that No 10 had been misleading. He said that the government had been working on the plan for weeks, but that as transport secretary he did not take the formal decision to axe phase two until Tuesday, and that that was approved by cabinet on Wednesday. “All very straightforward. I don’t really know why people are getting het up about this particular issue,” he said.

So why did Sunak record a video in advance saying phase two was scrapped?

Harper said government did “lots of work in advance” in relation to this. A command paper was prepared for publication. “But the decision was taken this week, on Tuesday, by me … all very straightforward,” he said.

Mhari Aurora from Sky News says No 10 says the fact that Sunak filmed the video does not mean it was definitely going to be used.

Gov relentlessly said no decision made on HS2 throughout party conference

But Sunak filmed this video in Downing therefore before he went to Manchester on the weekend

Gov says videos are filmed and not always used, but couldn’t confirm whether a keep-HS2 version was also filmed

Sunak has only given one interview since the speech, to Nick Robinson from the Today programme, recorded yesterday (before his video was attracting much attention), but broadcast this morning. I will post highlights soon.

Otherwise it’s a relatively quiet day. Lili Bayer, our new Europe blogger, is covering the European Political Community summit on her blog.

And in Scotland people are voting in the Rutherglen and West Hamilton byelection. Here is Libby Brooks’s story.

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