Boris Johnson has condemned Rishi Sunak amid speculation the prime minister is preparing to axe the next leg of HS2.
The former prime minister “we must be out of our minds” to consider curtailing the project, which has been beset by repeated delays and soaring costs.
He told Sunak it was time to “cut the cackle and get on with it”, warning that the project would be a “total white elephant” if it was not completed.
Sunak repeatedly failed to guarantee that the Birmingham to Manchester line will be completed during a series of interviews yesterday.
He said: “I know there’s a lot of speculation on this but we’ve already got spades in the ground on the first bit of HS2.
″But what I would say is HS2 is just one of the many things we are doing to level up across our country and it’s one of the many things we’re doing to invest in in the north and in transport infrastructure in the north.”
In his Daily Mail column, Johnson - who oversaw the cancellation of the Birmingham to Leeds leg of the multi-billion pound project - also took aim at reports HS2 may now start at Old Oak Common in west London rather than Euston in the centre of the city.
Johnson said: “Let us get one thing clear: it is now physically impossible just to cancel the entire project, and hope that we could all quietly forget about it.
“HS2 is already a huge streak of construction running from London to Birmingham, with thousands of people in hard hats, and endless beeping diggers and excavators.
“They have dug colossal tunnels, and built bridges, and rerouted roads. You can see HS2 from space. You can’t stop now — and you can’t stop at Birmingham.
“If the rumours are right — and I pray they are not — the government is again debating the notion of delaying the legs to Manchester and the East Midlands, so that we are left with a massive new railway, with trains capable of running at 225 mph, from Birmingham to . . . wait for it, Old Oak Common.”
“Have you been to Old Oak Common? I have, and it is nowhere near the city centre. You would have to get off and schlep into town, adding about half an hour to your journey.
“If this really is the plan, then we are going to throw away the chance to regenerate the Euston site — an economic boost worth £50 billion for a cost of £8 billion.
“If this is really the plan, then we are going to end up with the crowning absurdity of spending £100 billion, or more, on a line from Birmingham to the outskirts of London that will actually be slower than the existing service. It would be a total white elephant, the vanity project to end all vanity projects.”
He went on: “We will not level up, and we will not unleash the full potential of this entire country, unless we end the injustice of the infrastructure gap — and give the cities of the north the same transport advantages that have helped turn London and the south east into the most productive region in the whole of Europe.”
In a direct message to Sunak, Johnson said: “This is a pivotal moment, a time when we need to show, as a country, that we still have the requisite guts and ambition
“Let’s cut the cackle and get on with it.”