The government has been criticised in the commons for the way in which the HS2 delay was announced.
The high-speed railway was initially set to link London and the West Midlands with a further phase extending to cities in the North.
However, in a written statement, transport secretary Mark Harper said the project was making “good progress” but the Birmingham to Crewe section will see a construction “rephase” by two years.
Delivery of HS2 has been a core pledge of consecutive Conservative governments, but it has been hit by delays and increasing costs.
Mr Harper added: “We have seen significant inflationary pressure and increased project costs, and so we will rephase construction by two years, with an aim to deliver high-speed services to Crewe and the North West as soon as possible after accounting for the delay in construction.”
The delay will affect the northwest section of HS2, from Birmingham to Crewe, and then from Crewe to Manchester.
Responding to the news in a point of order in the House of Commons, Labour MP Sarah Owen rubbished the decision by the government and the way it was announced.
She attacked Mr Harper for “avoiding scrutiny”.
She said the cabinet minister “should have had the decency to come to this House and explain to members why they are doing this” instead of publishing a written statement “at nearly 5 o’clock on Thursday afternoon …
“This is an outrageous attempt to avoid scrutiny for what is a very significant announcement, which should have been made to this House first. Tens of thousands of jobs and billions of pounds of growth are dependent on this project.
“The secretary of state should have had the decency to come to this House and explain to members why they are doing this.”
That was echoed by commons speaker Lindsay Hoyle who also criticised the way the delay was communicated, with his spokesperson saying: “The Speaker has consistently told the government that major policy announcements should be made to the House first so that members have the chance to ask questions on behalf of their constituents, rather than hearing about them via the media.”
Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, also issued a statement, saying: “This is the biggest project in Europe and delays pile costs up in the long-run – ministers now need to come clean on precisely how much their indecision will cost taxpayers and the North.”
A spokesperson for the Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said: “The Speaker has consistently told the Government that major policy announcements should be made to the House first so that members have the chance to ask questions on behalf of their constituents, rather than hearing about them via the media.”
Meanwhile, Conservative MP Greg Smith gave his reaction on Twitter, saying the HS2 project had been a “colossal mistake” and urged the government to go further and cancel “all of it”.
The government is understood to be delaying construction of the northern section in the hope they can spread the cost over a longer period so that it is more affordable annually.
