RISHI Sunak was last night accused of a “great rail betrayal” by threatening to axe HS2’s Manchester leg.
Red Wall MPs let rip after the government repeatedly refused to say the high-speed train would still reach the city.
It is feared the massively over-budget line is being scaled back even more after they binned the route to Leeds and The Sun revealed this year it will not even run to central London.
Transport Minister Richard Holden yesterday dodged multiple questions over whether HS2 would still run between Birmingham and Manchester.
He denied “abandoning the north” but said MPs would be “updated regularly” on the project’s progress.
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Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh branded the chaos a “humiliating Conservative failure - a great rail betrayal”.
Mr Holden also took flak from Conservative sceptics pushing for HS2 to be junked entirely.
Tory MP Greg Smith said scrapping the Manchester leg would leave a "legless stump" and recommended that "what is left of phase one should be scrapped as well".
Labour last night committed to building HS2 to Manchester and resurrecting the north east leg to Leeds if it wins power.
Shadow Cabinet Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds vowed to completing the tracks “in full”.
He told the BBC: “We will build HS2 in full and we will build Northern Powerhouse Rail in full, that's the clear pledge that we've given."
When asked if it will be to Leeds as well, he said: "It's both to Manchester and indeed the eastern leg… to Leeds."