or do you i and don't build euston? or do you take the _ and don't build euston?more popular course of action, which is— take the more popular course of action, which is a _ take the more popular course of action, which is a lot _ take the more popular course of action, which is a lot better- take the more popular course of| action, which is a lot better than take the more popular course of. action, which is a lot better than a lorig-term — action, which is a lot better than a long—term prospects— action, which is a lot better than a long—term prospects of— action, which is a lot better than a long—term prospects of uk - action, which is a lot better than a long—term prospects of uk plc i action, which is a lot better than a| long—term prospects of uk plc and deliver_ long—term prospects of uk plc and deliver the — long—term prospects of uk plc and deliver the project— long—term prospects of uk plc and deliver the project as _ long—term prospects of uk plc and deliver the project as george - deliver the project as george osborne _ deliver the project as george osb

and you obviously are at euston station today, far more . at euston station today, far more quiet thanrail passengers are losing patience and their support is important to you. so what would you say to them when they ask why you've chosen the end of the school holidays for your latest strike? there is no ideal day to pick a strike. you are going to hit a concert or event. i spent my whole life trying to grow this industry, encouraging people onto railways, trying to get fares down. looking for us to be the centre of a green revolution which i believe is necessary for kyoto paris. i don't want to be here today apologising to the passengers once mother what is a political dispute by westminster. we don't have a problem in scotland or wales. we don't have a problem for open access and we have done 14 pay deals in the last 12 months elsewhere. but it is ideological for westminster. the rail minister himself when he gave evidence to the select committee admitted the strikes had cuffed over £1 billion and we could have so let mackay says the dispute several times ever. this is ideological, n

we're going to have it running euston. if it running into euston.en how can you make a commitment before you've even seen the books ? you've even seen the books? >> well, i think the problem is that unfortunately , under the that unfortunately, under the conservatives, we've had on so many different areas of economic policy , instability and policy, instability and indecision , you know, this isn't indecision, you know, this isn't the only time when the conservatives seem to be changing their minds about something. we've seen it just last week with them deciding to change that date for petrol and diesel vehicles being phased out for new sales. why is that an issue? it's an issue because it's going to impact on billions of pounds of investment that would have then got the cost of motoring down for ordinary people. so, you know , the people. so, you know, the conservatives keep chopping and changing around these issues and that's making all of it more expensive . there's some costs in expensive. there's some costs in that. the conservatives have essen

euston instead the london. euston but instead the western suburbs of london.m saying earlier the week, didn't we did hear andy burnham saying earlthat the week, didn't we did hear andy burnham saying earlthat manchester,k, didn't we did hear andy burnham saying earlthat manchester, manchester we, that manchester, manchester citizens are being treated like second class citizens and this would never have happened the would never have happened to the london leg hs2. but that new london leg of hs2. but that new line that given to gb news, line that he's given to gb news, that breaking news in the past hour or so that andy burnham, the manchester mayor the greater manchester mayor will take legal action against the the northern the government if the northern leg of hs2 is scrapped. we'll have that for you very, very shortly here on the live desk on gb news. we'll see you shortly . gb news. we'll see you shortly. the temperature's rising . the temperature's rising. >> boxt solar proud sponsors of weather on . gb news. weather on. gb news. >> hello, i'm alex burkill.

, which is valued _ 0ak common to euston, which is valued at — 0ak common to euston, which is valuedreal boost— probably through bradford, to give a real boost to the railways in the north— real boost to the railways in the north and — real boost to the railways in the north and they need the linkjust as much _ north and they need the linkjust as much as— north and they need the linkjust as much as anyone else but it has to be done _ much as anyone else but it has to be done much _ much as anyone else but it has to be done much more efficiently and cheaply— done much more efficiently and cheaply and i suggested smaller projects— cheaply and i suggested smaller projects are much more likely to achieve — projects are much more likely to achieve that.— projects are much more likely to achieve that. i achieve that. what do you think? i a . ree with achieve that. what do you think? i agree with a _ achieve that. what do you think? i agree with a point _ achieve that. what do you think? i agree with a point about _ achieve that. what do you think? i l agree with a point about continuity, i

abs, to go from euston to central manchester?— to go from euston to central manchester?arison to baz-ball, which is our— manchester? a generous comparison to baz-ball, which is our cricket _ manchester? a generous comparison to baz-ball, which is our cricket fan - manchester? a generous comparison to baz-ball, which is our cricket fan i - baz—ball, which is our cricket fan i enjoyed — baz—ball, which is our cricket fan i enjoyed. this is not about politics, it's about — enjoyed. this is not about politics, it's about doing the right thing for the country in the long term. i have had this— the country in the long term. i have had thisjob — the country in the long term. i have had thisjob forjust the country in the long term. i have had this job forjust under a the country in the long term. i have had thisjob forjust under a year, thinking — had thisjob forjust under a year, thinking hard about the things that will make — thinking hard about the things that will make a real difference, make a real change — will make a real difference, make a real change to this country, pu

i preliminary works at euston.'t it, some around some of the has done. the heavy lifting has been done. >> spent i mean, hs2 >> we spent i mean, the hs2 keep the very, very close to the numbers very, very close to their chest, estimated 15 to 20 billion. but if the whole thing is going to be 100 billion, i mean, can can the work they've done already be repurposed? it's a complete mess. a complete conundrum. rishi sunak is trying to convey that he is the person who's big enough, who's brave enough on what many enough to call time on what many people think is a white elephant i >>i >> i wonder what the season tickets are going to cost. yeah. anyway, liam, you for anyway, liam, thank you for taking through the latest taking us through the latest more it. but more from leas as we get it. but let's that the met let's reflect that the met office has issued weather warnings agnes on its warnings for storm agnes on its way already hitting warnings for storm agnes on its way and ready hitting warnings for storm agnes on its

our business correspondent marc ashdown sent this update from london's euston station.e tentative steps forward, really, if not significant progress. it's been months since the two sides have really been talking, but now we've had a little exchange, a dialogue, some letters backwards and forwards. about a week ago, the rmt wrote to the rail company, setting out what they called a road map to try and resolve this dispute. they want things like a fresh proposal put on the table, guarantees over no compulsory redundancies and proper cooperation on planned reforms to rotas, the ways of working, that sort of thing. last night, the rail delivery group, which represents the 1a train companies, sent a reply. they said, we agree, we need to navigate our way through this. we're encouraged that you want to seek a way forward and we continue crucially to be available for talks next week to explore options. but they did lay out what they call the crippling financial challenges facing the industry. they say they can't really offer any more of a pay rise than they've already put forwa

marc ashdown, bbc news. 0ur correspondent, tim muffett is at euston station for us.e are saying to you, what the mood is about all of this? the saying to you, what the mood is about all of this?— saying to you, what the mood is about all of this? the mood here is re about all of this? the mood here is pretty downbeat- — about all of this? the mood here is pretty downbeat. it _ about all of this? the mood here is pretty downbeat. it stopped - about all of this? the mood here isj pretty downbeat. it stopped raining and the sun is, but that's about as good as it gets. london 0verground services are still running from euston but nothing else is and all morning, passengers have been arriving here expecting to travel and a number of people have been telling me they are surprised to find out the trains are not running so a lot of criticism that this strike action hasn't been publicised enough. now nick whelan from the aslef union was here on the picket line earlier and i spoke to him and he says his union are in this for the long haul. the offer from the rail delivery group

euston was to get people down euston people to go down the euston road get into one, but if we road to euston itself will be closing during the peak. according to the government's own study that's in the independent today , because they won't be able to deal with enough passenger numbers they have. we have a growing population. need more growing population. we need more capacity, not less. if we actually do want to deliver any of the 1, we of kyoto, paris or the 1, we need hs2 in full to free up the capacity on the west coast, the east coast for freight alone. never it will do for never mind what it will do for regional railways and into urban railways across country . railways across the country. >> yeah, well, look , that's >> yeah, well, look, that's a very fair point. >> a final point before we let you go, because obviously that dribbles the way dribbles getting in the way a little bit. dribbles getting in the way a littiandt. dribbles getting in the way a littiand mark harper said, you >> and mark harper said, you know, you're striking as people are trying to get to manchester and

but also even the bit from euston to birmingham , the only euston to birmingham, the only bit that'so be built now seems to be from old oak common in north—west london through to birmingham , because through to birmingham, because there's already huge amounts of work being done , so it may not work being done, so it may not even run into central london. people would have to get off at old oak common, get the elizabeth line into central london. who would do that when you can just get a train directly from birmingham? >> it's a fascinating project. this because boris has waded in calling it treasury driven nonsense, as if listening to the treasury is a bad thing when you're £2.6 trillion in debt. cameron called it a totemic conservative pledge. so it's interesting how rishi is putting the knife into a tory pledge and george osborne a big blow for levelling up catherine, i've campaigned extensively across the west midlands in areas where this is going. i couldn't find a single person who wanted it apart from politicians and business people with vested interests. do most people actually

"if plans for hs2 to terminate at euston station are abandoned, it would cause a ridiculous situationon hs2, than on existing trains." a government spokesperson said the hs2 project is already well underway, with spades in the ground. noor nanji, bbc news. "0ne punch can destroy a family" — that's the message from the parents of a man who was left with life changing injuries, following a street attack two years ago. jamie kelly fell and hit his head on the pavement after being punched in scarborough. now, his story is being told to teenagers in schools, as part of an education campaign by north yorkshire police. 0ur social affairs correspondent emma glasbey has more. jamie kelly was 41 when he was attacked in scarborough. in a split second, his life changed forever. jamie spent eight weeks in a coma after one punch almost killed him. well done. brilliant, lad. it was actually on cctv. jamie was standing waiting across the road having a smoke, and this lad hit him. he fell down, cracked his head on the pavement. 0ne punch. 0ne punch destroyed jamie's life and destroyed his family's lif

rather going from euston to rather than going from euston to central birmingham and avoid the mist .st. the really important bit from birmingham to manchester. andy burnham to talk about well that would be project failed and the option that other people favour is massive overruns of cost and big delays. >> we're not talking about a train set that's going to work this decade. so the people in the north who are suffering from poor services moment, poor services at the moment, this is their answer. i this is not their answer. i think spending a bit less money on digital signalling greatly increases your capacity and improves reliability of the improves the reliability of the train and you could do train services. and you could do that the north and that throughout the north and give that capacity. give them that extra capacity. much sooner and at a better price. >> you businessman john i'm a businessman. there's an expression the first loss is the best loss. and don't pour good money after frankly given money after bad. frankly given where it's at now, i would scrap the lot. i would fil

rather going from euston to rather than going from euston to central birmingham and avoid the mist .st. the really important bit from birmingham to manchester. andy burnham to talk about well that would be project failed and the option that other people favour is massive overruns of cost and big delays. >> we're not talking about a train set that's going to work this decade. so the people in the north who are suffering from poor services moment, poor services at the moment, this is their answer. i this is not their answer. i think spending a bit less money on digital signalling greatly increases your capacity and improves reliability of the improves the reliability of the train and you could do train services. and you could do that the north and that throughout the north and give that capacity. give them that extra capacity. much sooner and at a better price. >> you businessman john i'm a businessman. there's an expression the first loss is the best loss. and don't pour good money after frankly given money after bad. frankly given where it's at now, i would scrap the lot. i would fil

it won't even go to euston. you can't believe it. segment, make my first public pronouncement on a man that i do not get on particularly well with. his name is russell brand. all of that in just a moment. >> you're listening to gb news radio . radio. >> it was only going to cost 35 billion and then it was going to cost 50 billion. then it was to going cost 80 billion. and the advance is now 100 billion, maybe 150 billion by the time we finish. oh and it won't be finished until 2041. that, at least, is what the farce that we've with hs2 , to which we've had with hs2, to which i've been deeply sceptical about from day one. but now it would seem the prime minister rishi sunak, has poured cold water over the whole thing by saying no, actually it won't . it be no, actually it won't. it be extending beyond birmingham to manchester. and interestingly , manchester. and interestingly, labour's pat mcfadden , speaking labour's pat mcfadden, speaking on the subject, has not guaranteed that labour would continue hs2 from birmingham to manchester

earlier this year that he was going to delay the building of the main terminus station at london eustonyears because of spiralling costs. the link between birmingham and crewe has also been delayed and one of the branches was supposed to be running to leeds. that was cut back a while, back to run just to the east midlands. there have already been a lot of changes and delays put into the system this week. there's been further doubt because around the branch to manchester, the government not saying that it would commit to the line eventually running to manchester, which has drawn criticism. so that's also sparked some interest in what labour would do because obviously this is a long running infrastructure programme that will be still very much happening after the next election. labour had been working on its national policy framework, which is a document that it then will use to then go and choose policies from it to go into its its manifesto. in that document, it had said it remained committed to fund, to building the whole line. so pat mcfadden, who you said was the senior mp who's in c

believe, or rather the government said in the spring, that it was committed from delivering from london euston though we might be stuck with simply a high—speed link between birmingham and a place called 0ld 0ak common in west london where you get off your train and get on to an elizabeth line train. everyone is up in arms about this from the rail industry, from northern offices because it is simply the opposite of levelling up. the environmentalists are upset away their land has been dug up. and everyone is desperately upset. the hs2 parade has been well and truly rained on and it seems to be simply a matter of failing to specify exactly what it is, chopping and changing, all in which, every time a decision is taking add billions to the bill which is rapidly escalating towards £100 billion. russia says its peacekeepers in the disputed enclave of nagono— in the disputed enclave of nagorno— karabakh have started to receive weapons from ethnic—armenian separatists. on wednesday, the separatist authorities there agreed to disarm, to stop a military offensive by azerbaijan. i spoke earlier to our

earlier this year that he was going to delay the building of the main terminus station at london eustons because of spiralling costs. the link between birmingham and crewe has also been delayed and one of the branches was supposed to be running to leeds. that was cut back a while, back to run just to the east midlands. there have already been a lot of changes and delays put into the system this week. there's been further doubt because around the branch to manchester, the government not saying that it would commit to the line eventually running to manchester, which has drawn criticism. so that's also sparked some interest in what labour would do because obviously this is a long running infrastructure programme that will be still very much happening after the next election. labour had been working on its national policy framework, which is a document that it then will use to then go and choose policies from it to go into its its manifesto. in that document, it had said it remained committed to fund, to building the whole line. so pat mcfadden, who you said was the senior mp who's in charg

now there is speculation the line might end in west london rather than going all the way to euston, and last official estimate on hs2 costs — excluding the cancelled eastern section — added up to about £71 billion, although this was in 2019 prices. £22.5 billion has already been spent on the london to birmingham leg, whilstjust over £2 billion has been spent on preparing for the other sections. this morning, the defence secretary, and former transport secretary, said no decision has been taken yet, but that it's important to respond to the budget. every government has to look at the overall budgets and then make serious decisions, which go beyond the sort of back—and—forth in a studio like this... 0k. ..to say, is this affordable, under current circumstances? i'm absolutely confident, for example, that when those statements were made, no—one knew we'd be in a war in europe right now. 0k. all of the consequences, all of the costs and all of the inflation. and any government that doesn't go back and then look at it is crazy. labour has so far refused to confirm it would fund the hs2 line

it won't even go to euston. you can't believe it.t, make my first public pronouncement on a man that i do not get on particularly well with. his name is russell brand. all of that in just a moment. >> you're listening to gb news radio . radio. >> it was only going to cost 35 billion and then it was going to cost 50 billion. then it was to going cost 80 billion. and the advance is now 100 billion, maybe 150 billion by the time we finish. oh and it won't be finished until 2041. that, at least, is what the farce that we've with hs2 , to which we've had with hs2, to which i've been deeply sceptical about from day one. but now it would seem the prime minister rishi sunak, has poured cold water over the whole thing by saying no, actually it won't . it be no, actually it won't. it be extending beyond birmingham to manchester. and interestingly , manchester. and interestingly, labour's pat mcfadden , speaking labour's pat mcfadden, speaking on the subject, has not guaranteed that labour would continue hs2 from birmingham to manchester even m

a central london terminus at euston is meant to come later, although work on that has been paused.ks hang over the line that is meant to link the west midlands and crewe before heading on to manchester. an eastern leg is also planned, but this has already been scaled back. recently, the prime minister, rishi sunak, and chancellorjeremy hunt have not been willing to say that they are committed to hs2 being built to manchester, casting fresh doubt over the project's future. labour's shadow chancellor rachel reeves has also refused to commit. now dozens of business leaders in groups including manchester airport's group, british land, virgin money and the northern powerhouse have all signed a letter calling for clarification and renewed commitment to hs2. the letter expresses deep concern over the constant uncertainty of the project, adding that repeated mixed signals are damaging the uk's reputation as a place to do business. and i hope the prime minister takes the weekend to reflect on being a northern mp and what he should be putting first, the future of the country or the short—ter

announced earlier this year he would delay the main building of the main terminus station at london eustonlling costs. the link between birmingham and crewe has also been delayed. 0ne branch was supposed to be running two leads. it was cut back a while back to run just to the east midlands. already a lot of changes and delays put into the system. this week there has been further doubt around the branch to manchester, the government not saying it would commit to the line eventually running to manchester, which has drawn criticism. that has also sparked some interest in what labour would do. this is a long infrastructure programme that will still be very much happening after the next election. labour had been working on its national policy framework, a document it then will use to then go and choose policies from it to go into its manifesto. in that document it had said it remained committed to building a whole line. pat mcfadden, the senior mp in charge of drawing up labour's election campaign, was asked by laura kuenssberg this morning, does it mean that branch to manchester will definitel

earlier this year the government said it was pausing work on the new central london terminus at eustonister rishi sunak and chance of a jeremy hunt have not been willing to say they are committed to hs2 being built to manchester, costing fresh doubts over the future of the project. i doubts over the future of the ro'ect. ., , ., project. i hope the government doesnt project. i hope the government doesn't continue _ project. i hope the government doesn't continue to _ project. i hope the government doesn't continue to reconsider. j project. i hope the government - doesn't continue to reconsider. but the other side of the story is the government needs to get behind this project, when they have firmly decided that it is affordable, get behind it. its, decided that it is affordable, get behind it. �* ., ., , decided that it is affordable, get behind it. �* ., . , _ behind it. a letter organised by the rail industry — behind it. a letter organised by the rail industry says _ behind it. a letter organised by the rail industry says that _ behind it. a letter organised by the rail industry say

now there is speculation the line might end in west london rather than going all the way to euston.luding the cancelled eastern section — added up to about £71 billion, although this was in 2019 prices. £22.5 billion has already been spent on the london to birmingham leg, whilstjust over £2 billion has been spent on preparing for the other sections. this morning, the defence secretary, and former transport secretary, said no decision has been taken yet, but that it's important to respond to the budget. every government has to look at the overall budgets and then make serious decisions, which go beyond the sort of back—and—forth in a studio like this... 0k. ..to say, is this affordable, under current circumstances? i'm absolutely confident, for example, that when those statements were made, no—one knew we'd be in a war in europe right now. 0k. all of the consequences, all of the costs and all of the inflation. and any government that doesn't go back and then look at it is crazy. labour's been accused of sending mixed messages on hs2. we are supportive of h52 being built, but we're re

and in march, the government said, to save money, it was delaying when euston station in london wouldas asked if hs2 will still go there. well, i'm not going to comment on that type of speculation but what i would say is we're absolutely committed to levelling up and spreading opportunity around the country. 0n manchester, mr sunak wouldn't say and the context here is spiralling costs. the latest estimate is £71 billion. after recent inflation, that will be higher now, which the government is well aware of. we do have to respond to the budgets in particular. we've been hit notjust by a coronavirus but also by the war in ukraine and i think any responsible government looks at that and says, does this still stack up? the war and covid have pushed up costs but as well as that, three years ago, the national audit office had already noted that the department for transport and hs2 limited underestimated the complexity of the programme and, as that complexity continues to reveal itself, 11 years after the tories compared their ambition to the victorians, there's this warning, from labour's m

this year the government announced it was pausing work on the new central london terminus here at eustonver the line that links the west midlands and crewe, before moving on to manchester. recently, the prime minister rishi sunak and chancellorjeremy hunt have not been willing to say that they are committed to hs2 being built to manchester, casting fresh doubt over the project�*s future. the labour shadow chancellor rachel reeves has also refused to commit. in a letter to government, business leaders and companies including manchester airports group, british land, virgin money and the northern powerhouse, have called for clarification and renewed commitment to hs2. the letter expresses deep concern over the constant uncertainty over the project, adding that repeated mixed signals were damaging the uk�*s reputation as a place to do business. i hope the prime minister takes the weekend to reflect on being a northern mp and what he should be putting first. the future of the country, or the short—term interests of the conservative party. because former tory leaders and britain�*s leading bus

now there's a speculation the line might end in west london rather than going all the way to euston.fficial estimate on hs2 cost, including nick ansell eastern section, added up to around £71 billion, although that was that 2019 rises. 21 point has already been spent on the london to birmingham leg. this morning, the defence secretary and former transport secretary and former transport secretary said no decision has been taken yet, but it is important to respond to the budget. important to respond to the bud . et. , ., . , important to respond to the budaet. , ., ., ., budget. every government has to look at the _ budget. every government has to look at the overall _ budget. every government has to look at the overall budgets - budget. every government has to look at the overall budgets and l look at the overall budgets and then make serious decisions, which go beyond this sort of back and forth in a studio like this to say is this affordable under current circumstances? i'm absolutely confident, for example, that when those statements were made no—one knew we would be in a war in eu

believe, or rather the government said in the spring, that it was committed from delivering from london eustonmight be stuck with simply high—speed link between birmingham and a place called old 0ak common in west london where you get off your train and get on to an elizabeth line train. everyone is up in arms about this from the rail industry, from northern offices because you can simply —— this is simply the opposite of live and levelling up. and everyone is desperately upset. the hs2 parade has been well and truly rained on and it seems to be simply a matter of failing to specify exactly what it is, chopping and changing, all in which, every time a decision is taking add billions to the bill which is rapidly escalating towards £100 billion. figs which is rapidly escalating towards £100 billion.— £100 billion. as you touched on this, it's quite _ £100 billion. as you touched on this, it's quite a _ £100 billion. as you touched on this, it's quite a key _ £100 billion. as you touched on this, it's quite a key part - £100 billion. as you touched on this, it's quite a key part of- £100 billion.

a new station at london euston is also reportedly in the balance.t, 0ld 0ak common would remain hs2's southern end. well, it would leave the h52 core routes, the expensive bit, the bit that's gone through people's houses in buckinghamshire and northamptonshire, it would leave it running at about one third of its potential capacity. hs2 still has many critics, including those who think the cost and disruption is not worth it. as well as many rail passengers, businesses just want to know what the plan is. katy austin, bbc news in manchester. ukraine's special forces claim the commander of russia's black sea fleet was killed on friday, in a missile strike on the navy�*s headquarters in occupied crimea. in a statement, a military spokesman said admiral viktor sokolov died in the attack, but wouldn't name him directly when approached by the bbc. the building in sevastopol suffered a direct hit by western supplied missiles. 0ur correspondent in kyiv, james waterhouse, has more. we saw this really dramatic strike on friday, a direct hit with western missil

and in march, the government said, to save money, it was delaying when euston station in london would asked if hs2 will still go there. well, i'm not going to comment on that type of speculation, - but what i would say is - we're absolutely committed to levelling up and spreading i opportunity around the country. 0n manchester, mr sunak wouldn�*t say, and the context here is spiralling costs. the latest estimate is £71 billion. after recent inflation, that will be higher now, which the government is well aware of. we do have to respond to the budgets in particular. we�*ve been hit notjust by a coronavirus, but also by the war we�*ve been hit notjust by coronavirus, but also by the war in ukraine, and i think any responsible government looks at that and says, does this still stack up? the war and covid have pushed up costs, but as well as that, three years ago, the national audit office had already noted that the department for transport and hs2 limited underestimated the complexity of the programme and, as that complexity continues to reveal itself, 11 years after the tories compared

no, it's not going to euston. it's not going to manchester. remember manchester.r the days when were about it when we were talking about it going edinburgh in glasgow, going to edinburgh in glasgow, you know. yes, this is it's apparently, the apparently, according to the mail, slower now to mail, going to be slower now to manchester. >> fascinating graphic in >> this fascinating graphic in the talking about how the mail talking about how because it's not coming into because now it's not coming into euston, but ending at old euston, but it's ending at old oak common, which is near acton in west london, because have in west london, because you have to acton to get on the to get to acton to get on the high speed rail. it's actually just quicker to go on a slower line from london to birmingham. so really understood so i never really understood what was the priority of london to birmingham. there were already there. what already good links there. what about manchester to leeds? what about manchester to leeds? what about to newcastle ? i about manchester to newcastle? i

that is due to open by 2033, with a central london terminus at euston coming later. before heading on to manchester. an eastern leg is also planned but this has already been scaled back. today downing street was prepared to commit to hs2 but not expressly to it reaching manchester, talking instead of rephasing. rail businesses say this has sparked concern. the governmentjust needs to kill the speculations and make its intentions really clear. it needs to commit to deliver the project as it is planned and give confidence to the rail sector and the construction sector that the project is going to be built in full. the autumn statement is coming up in november. hs2 critics, who would prefer the project hit the buffers altogether, want a different sort of certainty but there has been outcry from some leaders in the north of england at any suggestion of further delays or cuts. uncertainty once again seems to be stalking hs2. katy austin, bbc news. it's emerged that a russian military pilot tried to shoot down an raf surveillance aircraft, like this one, last september. th

then we heard the line might end in west london, rather than going all the way to euston. doubt as well. the last official estimate on hs2 costs — excluding the cancelled eastern section — added up to about £71 billion, although this was in 2019 prices. this morning, the defence secretary and former transport secretary said no decision has been taken yet but that it's important to respond to the budget. every government has to look at the overall budgets and then make serious decisions, which go beyond the sort of back—and—forth in a studio like this... 0k. ..to say, is this affordable, under current circumstances? i'm absolutely confident, for example, that when those statements were made, no—one knew we'd be in a war in europe right now. 0k. all of the consequences, all of the costs and all of the inflation. and any government that doesn't go back and then look at it is crazy. mr shapps would not comment on whether or not separate plans for the northern powerhouse rail scheme between leeds, manchester and liverpool would still go ahead, even if the northern section of hs

a new station at london euston is also reportedly in the balance.in hs2's southern end. well, it would leave the h52 core routes, the expensive bit, the bit that's gone through people's houses in buckinghamshire and northamptonshire, it would leave it running at about one third of its potential capacity. hs2 still has many critics, including those who think the cost and disruption is not worth it. as well as many rail passengers, businesses just want to know what the plan is. katy austin, bbc news in manchester. gatwick airport will cancel around 82 departures over the coming week because of high levels of sickness, including covid, among air traffic control staff. the largest number of cancellations is expected to happen on friday, with 33 departures affected. easyjet passengers will be the most impacted, with ba and ryanair also cancelling flights. the cost—of—living crisis has changed shopping habits for good, according to the boss of aldi in the uk and ireland. he says shoppers are buying more own label products and he expects that trend to cont

also, all the infrastructure was laid at euston, london, euston, if you recall, london, euston, if you euston, was that euston, which the hope was that it be coming into london, it would be coming into london, houston, much more the centre houston, much more in the centre of london. and a of of london. and a lot of devastation to a lot of businesses and homes around there. and it's basically an empty construction site at the moment. question is , is moment. so the question is, is will that infrastructure will all that infrastructure become redundant, not just become redundant, but not just in london right through where, you know, a number of railway bndges you know, a number of railway bridges and tunnels have been built? a lot of people have lost their homes, areas of outstanding natural beauty of being disrupted . so we're going being disrupted. so we're going to hear a lot more this weekend, i think about this at the conservative party conference. i think it's going to be a clash of the titans because obviously the prime minister will be there. but it's on the terrain of andy burnha

a london terminus at euston is meant to come later, although work on that has been paused.ruction on that was delayed for two years to spread out spending. it should then reach manchester. plans for an eastern leg to leeds were scaled back two years ago to only go as far as the east midlands. but recently, the prime minister, rishi sunak, and chancellorjeremy hunt have not been willing to say they are committed to hs2 being built to manchester, casting fresh doubts over the project's future. labour's shadow chancellor, rachel reeves, has also refused to commit. now, dozens of business leaders and groups have put their names to a letter calling for clarification and renewed commitment. it expresses deep concern about constant uncertainty over hs2's delivery and says repeated mixed signals on hs2 and its related northern powerhouse rail scheme are damaging the uk's reputation as a place to do business. the business community in the north of england and the business community in london and across the wider country have been promised by the government on many, many occasions, i

let's talk to our business correspondent, marc ashdown, who is at euston, one of london's busiest stationsi'm not sure what it is looking like today. i be any closer to a breakthrough to resolve this dispute?— any closer to a breakthrough to resolve this dispute? well, look, i think tentative _ resolve this dispute? well, look, i think tentative steps, _ resolve this dispute? well, look, i think tentative steps, really. - think tentative steps, really. nothing significant but after months of radio silence between the two sides we have had a bit of dialogue. the rmt union vote to the rail companies about a week ago laying out what it called the road map to try to resolve this dispute. late last night the rail delivery group which represents those 14 companies wrote back saying, yes, we agree, we need to try to navigate your way through this. it sounds good, really, doesn't it? both sides are ready and willing to sit down and talk about both sides on the other to give a bit of ground first. the union is asking for a fresh payoff are to be put on the table and they want assurances there would