£600m of public money spent buying up property in north of England for HS2

Homes and land purchased to make way for line that now appears to be in doubt, as Rishi Sunak refuses to commit to it

Almost 600m of public money has already been spent buying up land and properties for HS2 in the north of England, despite uncertainty that the train line will ever get beyond Birmingham.

Rishi Sunak repeatedly refused to commit to bringing HS2 to Manchester on Thursday, amid concerns that the project's cost could exceed 100bn, three times the original estimate.