Transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin has spoken out against HS2's opponents - saying many of them are based in London.

Talking to the Birmingham Mail, he claims critics from the capital are against spending money on an option connecting various major cities, such as Manchester, Leeds and Birmingham.

Mr McLoughlin said there are many "London commentators who are against HS2 who are very happy to see us spend money on Crossrail and on Thameslink. If you put those two schemes together is over £20 billion".

The secretary believes Birmingham needs HS2 to create jobs in the area and receive other benefits, such as the construction of both a city centre station and an additional stop near Birmingham Airport.

He continues to defend the scheme, which came under scrutiny over the weekend when BBC Newsnight revealed undisclosed facts from a government-commissioned KPMG report. The study suggested areas not connected will lose money as a result, but Mr McLoughlin said other investments and projects would be given out.