A Cabinet minister has warned that HS2 is a “killer whale” that might “rip the arm” off the following prime minister.
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Kit Malthouse, essentially the most senior minister within the Cabinet Office, informed the Telegraph that the HS2 venture was akin to a “killer whale” and prompt it was one of many initiatives that might spell hassle for the following incumbent of No 10.
The Government-backed venture comes with guarantees that it’ll ship progress to all elements of the nation, however its opponents have attacked the huge prices related to the plan.
Mr Malthouse, who just a few weeks in the past was policing minister however took up the job in Boris Johnson’s compelled reshuffle, could solely occupy the Cabinet Office function for the summer season because the Tory Party chooses between Rishi Sunak and Liz Truss for its new chief.
But he warned the newspaper that the Government faces “killer whales”, particularly “the big projects that sit out there below the surface, waiting to breach above the waves and rip your arm off”.
He contrasted these with “hornets” plaguing the Government – points such because the cost-of-living disaster, strikes and NHS backlogs.
“The engine at the moment is actually pretty good, and my predecessors have built a pretty good engine,” he mentioned of the Cabinet Office.
“But it’s one that is recovering from Covid.
“During the pandemic it was very focused on its Covid work. And dealing with that particular national international emergency was a huge moment for the Cabinet Office. And it did some remarkable stuff.
“But it is now time for us to shift off that kind of big uni-focal activity, and have a look at all this other stuff.”
He continued: “These are the big projects that sit out there below the surface, waiting to breach above the waves and rip your arm off. Big projects with big money involved, that often take quite a lot of sophisticated leadership and management.
“And we need to just make sure that we’ve got the risk assessed properly on that for a new prime minister.”
He mentioned that HS2 is a “big project and it’s definitely on the list” of so-called “killer whales”.
“HS2 is obviously making significant progress,” he mentioned.
“What I want is when a new prime minister comes in, that he or she is able to say to me Kit, what should I be worried about? That’s the exercise that we’re going through over the next four to six weeks.”
Source: www.unbiased.co.uk