Labour set to axe these major projects in bid to close ‘blackhole’

Chancellor Rachel Reeves is expected to outline a number of swinging cuts to Britain’s infrastructure projects this afternoon, as Labour moves to deal with a major fiscal ‘blackhole’ left by the previous government.

Amid a major row about the extent to which there is such a funding gap in the UK’s coffers, Ms Reeves is expected to swing an axe on areas of UK infrastructure spending, while also laying the groundwork for manifesto-breaking tax rises in the Autumn.

Despite Labour insisting they only discovered the true state of the economy upon entering office, neutral economic experts have poo-pooed this claim, pointing out Ms Reeves herself said the OBR’s open financial assessments mean opposition parties can no longer use this argument upon entering power.

Among the expected austerity victims are expected to be major national projects, including bypasses, tunnels and possibly even HS2’s Euston branch.

Read below for everything we expect the Chancellor to announce today.

This £1.7 billion tunnel is set to go alongside the world heritage monument Stonehenge and significantly cut journey times on one of Britain’s most persistently gridlocked areas of road.

It would go for eight miles alongside the existing dual carriageway, and would also reduce noise pollution for visitors to the globally-famous spot.

It has been persistently tied up in legal action since being announced, with the Save Stonehenge World Heritage Site arguing it would permanently disfigure the important landscape.

Unesco officials have also warned that the tunnel could “compromise the integrity” of Stonehenge.

Boris Johnson’s dream of reversing the Beaching cuts of the 1960s could also be for the chopping block.

Announced in 2019, the Government pledged to restore a number of abandoned railway lines and stations to improve connectivity.

£500 million was earmarked for the project, with 44 lines being granted funding.

Since 2020, just one line has been opened – the Dartmoor line from Exeter to Okehampton.

In 2022, 23 of the lines had been funded with a further 13 being developed.

Among those set to be scaled back could be new Lins in Dartmoor, Birmingham New Street to Kings Norton and the Northumberland line.

While Rishi Sunak’s decision to scrap the Manchester leg of Euston last year was met with dismay by enthusiasts of the line, they breathed a sigh of relief that the Tories committed to running the line directly into Euston.

However now Labour may be looking at dashing these hopes, and instead terminating the increasingly fragmented and slow project in outer London to save cash.

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden signalled this morning that HS2 may now have to terminate at Old Oak Common, with commuters having to finish their journey on the Elizabeth Line.

Labour had already pledged to scrap the A27 Arundel bypass in their manifesto, in order to fund the filling of 1 million potholes across England each year.

Labour claimed the project is “poor value for money”, despite hopes it would ease congestion in the area.

The Sussex Wildlife Trust has led the charge against its construction, with claims it could cause irreversible environmental damage.

Another of Boris Johnson’s legacy projects set to be abandoned, Wes Streeting has now said that the £20 billion programme is unachievable by the current 2030 deadline.

Last year the National Audit Office said that just 11 of the 32 announced projects qualified as “whole new hospitals”, and the scheme was failing to deliver value for money.

Amid concerns the project will now be paused, Wes Streeting has said: “I want to see the new hospital programme completed but I am not prepared to offer people false hope about how soon they will benefit from the facilities they deserve”.

It’s believed Ms Reeves will also announce a mass sell-of of Government land and property in order to raise hundreds of millions.

Ministry of Defence sights, along with NHS property and Network Rail land are all in the Government’s eyesights.

Ms Reeves may also announce a crackdown on the use of private, third party consultants across Whitehall.

It will come alongside a new Office of Value for Money that will see civil servants ordered to find new cost and efficiency savings.