Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will announce HS2's northern leg from Birmingham to Manchester is to be scrapped in his Conservative conference speech on Wednesday.
The PM's confirmation will come after almost two weeks of speculation that the axe was going to be brought down on the high-speed rail project that was due to connect the city he is delivering his speech from with Birmingham, and on to central London.
The likes of Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham, Manchester United and several northern businesses have written to Mr Sunak urging him to not cancel the HS2 leg.
READ MORE: HS2: What is it, how much has it cost and how have the plans changed?
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READ MORE: LIVE: All the reaction as HS2's northern leg set to be scrapped by Prime Minister Rishi Sunak
More than 30 large and small organisations from Greater Manchester and the surrounding area have called on the Prime Minister to commit to building the high-speed railway in its entirety and avoid "economic self-sabotage".
Several other notable organisations – including Manchester Airports Group (MAG), the University of Manchester and Co-operatives 海角视频 – signed a joint letter warning the Prime Minister he was risking the "prosperity" of the North.
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Mr Sunak repeatedly ducked questions about HS2 at the Conservative Party conference, held in Manchester, on Tuesday – amid widespread expectation he will cancel aspects of it due to spiralling costs.
The letter said: "In deciding on the future of HS2 you hold the future prosperity of the North and Midlands in your hands.
"As businesses with a deep interest in the long-term future of Manchester and the 海角视频 as a whole we urge you not to cancel HS2.
"It would be a major act of economic self-sabotage and damage our international standing as a place to do business."
It said the businesses would be open to working with the Government to try and combat the project’s spiralling costs, but stressed HS2 was "fundamental to the economic future of the whole of the country".
The letter concluded: "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity which we cannot afford to throw away. Scrapping this scale of infrastructure investment would risk our standing as a globally competitive 海角视频 in the future, and adversely impact our communities for decades to come."
Ken O’Toole, MAG chief executive, said Mr Sunak would be wrong to "abandon the commitments the Government has made to deliver HS2", adding the North needs "better connectivity".
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Mr O'Toole said the North's growth and productivity had "been stifled by outdated rail infrastructure" over the past decade.
In a statement, he added: "The 海角视频 needs a bold and ambitious plan for unlocking the potential of the North and rebalancing the national economy.
"That plan should integrate a modern rail network with the global connectivity provided by Manchester Airport.
"We call on Government to work with business and political leaders to ensure that vision is delivered."
On Monday, Tory mayor for the West Midlands, Andy Street, said scrapping the scheme while holding a conference in Manchester would be "an incredible political gaffe".
In his conference speech, the PM is expected to rail against post-Thatcher politics for focusing on quick fixes and attempt to portray himself as a radical reformer prepared to abandon the northern leg of HS2. He will also criticise 30 years of incentivising "the easy decision, not the right one".
With the Tories having been in charge for the majority of the last three decades, he will pitch himself as the man to "fundamentally change our country".
Labour accused ministers of turning the 海角视频 into an "international laughing stock" after Sky News first reported the supposedly high-speed line will use existing tracks between Birmingham and Manchester.
In a convention centre built from a former railway station, Mr Sunak will reflect on his first year in No 10 and acknowledge a "feeling that Westminster is a broken system".
"It isn't anger, it is an exhaustion with politics. In particular, politicians saying things, and then nothing ever changing," he is expected to say. And you know what? People are right. Politics doesn’t work the way it should.
"We've had 30 years of a political system which incentivises the easy decision, not the right one – 30 years of vested interests standing in the way of change."
He will accuse Labour – recording a consistently double-digit lead over the Conservatives – of failing to “set out their stall” under Sir Keir Starmer and betting on voters' "apathy".
And Mr Sunak will argue he is the reformer, saying: "Politicians spent more time campaigning for change than actually delivering it. Our mission is to fundamentally change our country."
Mr Sunak has struggled to keep the conference on track amid Tory criticism over HS2 and his predecessor Liz Truss drawing big conference crowds as she demanded immediate tax cuts to "make Britain grow again" a year after she left office after a chaotic 49 days.
The Prime Minister instead compared himself to Baroness Thatcher, who tackled inflation before cutting taxes during her premiership between 1979 and 1990.
Mr Sunak has repeatedly ducked questions about scaling back HS2 despite northern leaders, businesses and former Tory premiers Boris Johnson, Theresa May and David Cameron all warning against the move.
But the Prime Minister did on Tuesday say the costs of the project had gone "far beyond" what had been predicted, and the sums involved were "enormous".
The HS2 scheme was given a budget of £55.7bn in 2015 but costs have ballooned, with an estimate of up to £98bn – in 2019 prices – in 2020. Since then, soaring inflation will have pushed costs even higher.
Reports suggest high speed tracks will reach central London in Euston, rather than terminating in the western suburbs of Old Oak Common after pressure from within the Cabinet.
Mr Sunak would be expected to outline a number of measures to soften the blow to the north, and has hinted at better train and bus connectivity within the region, as well as cash for potholes.
Transport Secretary Mark Harper acknowledged that "some people won’t like" the decision Mr Sunak makes. Mr Street used a conference fringe event to issue a last-ditch plea for Mr Sunak to change course.
"I think they are about to make an incredible political gaffe," he warned.
"Every Labour MP in the North is lining up tomorrow to say … the Tories have come to Manchester to shaft the North."