Business secretary Grant Shapps hinted that Northern Powerhouse Rail would be scaled back, amid confusion over the commitment to a new nuclear plant in Suffolk.
A senior Treasury source stressed they were rethinking “all capital spending” after an official told the BBC: “We are reviewing every major project – including Sizewell C.”
Others, along with sources in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, insisted that Sizewell C was not being scrapped or delayed.
A government spokesman said they are “seeking to approve at least one large-scale nuclear project in the next few years”. Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak are looking for sweeping cuts that can be made ahead of the 17 November budget, as the Bank of England warns of the longest recession on record.
In the manifesto by which the Conservatives won the 2019 election, the party promised to build the Northern Powerhouse Rail between Leeds and Manchester.
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