A former chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, who is carrying out an independent commission on the growth of UK cities, says that the Government should re-think its plans for the HS2 high-speed rail project and begin building the line from Birmingham to Manchester and Leeds before it links London and Birmingham.

Jim O’Neill said it would make more sense to delay construction of the London-Birmingham stretch — due to open in 2026 — and instead connect Birmingham to less prosperous cities, which is not currently scheduled until 2033.

Asked by a Sunday newspaper if the London-Birmingham scheme could have the reverse effect to that intended by drawing more economic activity into the South East and away from the Midlands and the North, he said: “Of course it could. You could certainly live in Birmingham and work in London when this happens; all this does is make it easier to get into London.

“In my judgement, for the national economy, this is way more important than improving the speed of the link between London and any of these places. I am somebody
who has spent 30 years going up and down to Manchester, so I know from experience what that trip is like. In the past decade,

"I have seen it go from three to two hours, but that has not actually helped Manchester relative to London.”