A major Tory donor has threatened to stop supporting the party if Rishi Sunak scraps the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2, according to Guardian reports.
The Prime Minister is considering whether to completely bin or delay the leg of HS2 from Birmingham to Manchester in response to soaring costs.
Cabinet minister Grant Shapps said it would be “crazy” not to reconsider the project in the light of the rising price tag and the UK’s economic situation.
But former chancellor George Osborne and ex-deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine warned that axing the Manchester route would be a “gross act of vandalism” which would mean “abandoning” the North and Midlands.
Writing in The Times, they warned Mr Sunak: “Governments are remembered for what they build and create. Make this mistake and yours may only be known for what it cancelled and curtailed.”
If the northern section was cancelled “the remaining stump, little more than a shuttle service from Birmingham to a London suburb, would become an international symbol of our decline”, they said.
And to add insult to injury, a leading donor to the party, who asked to remain anonymous, has told the Guardian: “Generations of my family have been proud to support what was the party of business. We’ve given year in, year out for decades and been active in the party.
“But I’ve spoken to other donors, and several of them feel – possibly for the first time ever – recent events seriously call into question the ability to continue to support people who don’t do what they say they’d do.”
It follows a similar move by the billionaire Phones4U founder, John Caudwell, who said he would stop donating to the Conservatives after the “madness” of Sunak’s U-turn on climate goals.
Related: Rishi Sunak now flying around in luxury jet used by treble winners Man City
