Lord Adonis has urged the Labour Party to not give up support for HS2.

The announcement comes after shadow chancellor Ed Balls suggested Labour may scrap its support of the project - due to rising costs under the current government.

Speaking at a fringe event in Brighton yesterday (September 24th), Lord Adonis urged the party to look at the long-term aspects of the scheme rather than just the immediate financial aspects.

The first stage of HS2 - connecting London and Birmingham - will not be ready until 2026. The second stage - introducing links to Manchester and Leeds - would be completed by around 2033.

He said: "We are the party that started HS2. I published the plan three and a half years ago. We set the whole thing out, we set out the rationale, including capacity."

Shadow transport secretary Maria Eagle expressed views similar to Ed Balls', agreeing that there can not be a blank cheque on the development. She warned of the growing costs, claiming the current government has added £10 billion to the project.