MANCHESTER – British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak cancelled part of a high-speed rail project on Wednesday, ending weeks of uncertainty and provoking anger in his own Conservative Party with his move to reinvent his premiership as one of tough decisions and action.

With the governing Conservatives badly lagging behind the opposition Labour Party in polls before an election expected in 2024, Mr Sunak and his team are seeking to revive his premiership by saying he is a politician willing to take long-term “tough decisions” to make people better off.

But his flagship “tough decision” to stop the construction of the HS2 high-speed rail to Manchester in his closing speech at the party’s annual conference in that city might do little to steady the ship.

Ending days of speculation over the second phase of the project, he told the party conference: “I’m ending this long-running saga. I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project, and in its place we will reinvest every single penny – £36 billion (S$60 billion) – in hundreds of new transport projects in the north and the midlands, across the country.”

To applause from a packed conference hall, Mr Sunak told those who first backed the project years ago that the circumstances in Britain have changed, making the money better spent on roads, underground rail systems and other transport connections in northern and central England.

“HS2 is the ultimate example of the old consensus,” he said, pressing his message that he was the politician to change 30 years of an inefficient “political status quo”.

His words might do little to calm the tempers of businesses that have invested heavily to start construction and some Conservatives, particularly a regional mayor and party favourite in central England.

But Mr Sunak’s supporters say it is proof he can withstand criticism in his pursuit of making the “right decisions” rather than politically expedient ones, pointing to him pressing on with his move to water down measures to reach climate targets.

Lagging Labour

This stance, they say, is aimed at closing the gap with the Labour Party, despite a new poll by Savanta on Wednesday suggesting that a small boost in the Conservatives’ ratings last week has all but disappeared. It gave Labour a 19-point lead over the Conservatives.

Mr Sunak spoke about reforming Britain’s National Health Service, the banning of cigarettes for younger smokers and a repeated message that he will do things differently.

“Politics doesn’t work the way it should. We’ve had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one. Thirty years of vested interests standing in the way of change,” he said.

He took aim at Labour leader Keir Starmer, saying he is part of the outdated system – a taste of what is gearing up to be an ugly election campaign.

“The Labour party have set out their stall: To do and say as little as possible and hope no one notices. They want to take people’s votes for granted and keep doing politics the same old way,” he said.

“It is about power for the sake of power. It is, in short, everything that is wrong with our politics.”

But as the party’s conference draws to an end, his team will be watching for the response to his new approach and specifically his decision on cutting the second phase of HS2, which has seen £2.3 billion spent already.

Earlier, business leaders accused Mr Sunak of doing the exact opposite of his speech – being driven by short-term political gain rather than considering the value a new high-speed train line could offer generations to come.

On Tuesday, Mr Andy Street, a Conservative mayor for a part of central England and a darling of the party for his area’s redevelopment, said Mr Sunak was about to “make an incredible political gaffe” by cancelling the northern spur of the line.

He said the decision would allow Labour to say the Conservatives “have come to Manchester to shaft the north. Is that really what we want to offer to our opponents?” REUTERS