Yahoo News Tory conference latest: HS2 row dominates agenda as No10 insists ‘no final decision made’
Hunt previously questioned why HS2 cost so much to build
Monday's Conservative Party Conference was overshadowed by news that the government may be scrapping the Manchester leg of the high-speed railway - the news coming as the Tories held their convention in the city.
Shortly before the chancellor Jeremy Hunt was due to take the stage, ITV News Political Editor Robert Peston reported that the Manchester leg of the high-speed project would not be going ahead.
However Downing Street later insisted that the reports were incorrect, with a spokesperson commenting: "No final decisions have been taken on Phase 2 of HS2."
Earlier, Hunt had been asked about HS2 and questioned why delivering HS2 is costing vastly more than similar projects in Europe.
He told LBC radio: “I need to have an answer why it costs 10 times more to build high speed rail in this country than it does across the Channel in France.
“Some of that spend you’ve been talking about (on public relation costs) is totally unacceptable.”
Yahoo News has paused its conference live blog coverage for the night. For all the latest conference stories, please click here.
The conference, which runs from 1-4 October at the Manchester Central Convention Complex, will also see speeches today from Kemi Badenoch, Therese Coffey and Claire Coutinho, while Robert Jenrick will take part in an immigration event and divisive names Liz Truss, Jacob Rees Mogg and Priti Patel will address 'The Great British Growth Rally'.
