Jeremy Hunt is “considering” the future of HS2, Culture Secretary Lucy Frazer said this morning. 

Ms Frazer said chancellors “always” consider the cost of major infrastructure projects “to the public purse”. 

She was asked if Lord Hague, the former Tory leader, was right or wrong after he said yesterday that HS2 was a “national disgrace” that “should have been cancelled a few years ago”. 

She told Times Radio: “Well, you know that these are issues that the Chancellor must consider in the round and you will know that a chancellor always considers major infrastructure projects, the costs to the public purse. 

“And the last few days that’s what’s being highlighted, that these are issues that are being considered by the Chancellor.” 

There is growing speculation in Whitehall that the Government could axe the Birmingham to Manchester leg of HS2 amid rising concerns over the ballooning costs of the project.

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