Decision to scrap i cant commit to reversing that because they have blown such a big hole in it. Im because they have blown such a big hole in it. �. , hole in it. Im glad that it is cominu hole in it. Im glad that it is coming to hole in it. Im glad that it is coming to euston hole in it. Im glad that it is coming to euston but we i hole in it. Im glad that it is i coming to euston but we need hole in it. Im glad that it is coming to euston but we need to look very carefully in detail because the budget has been dramatically reduced as i understand, the platform for it will be produced and that causes significant problems for the future. We need to have detail, i dont think the government has a project around it and that is a problem for this government has lost control of it like it lost control of the economy. Lost control of our nhs. It is another mess that we are privileged enough to win the election, we will have to pick up and fix. ,. ,. , and fix. During the criticism of the cancellation and fix. During the criticism of the cancellation of and fix. During the criticism of the cancellation of the and fix. During the criticism of the cancellation of the second and fix. During the criticism of the cancellation of the second leg and fix. During the criticism of the cancellation of the second leg of l cancellation of the second leg of h52 was the Green Party Co leader. The Green Party Co leader, carla denyer, has accused rishi sunak of ending up with the worst of all worlds my concern personally of only building my concern personally of only building that leg in not building the onwards legs it ends up the worst the onwards legs it ends up the worst of the onwards legs it ends up the worst of both worlds where the bed linens worst of both worlds where the bed linens and worst of both worlds where the bed linens and said being a Commuter Belt for linens and said being a Commuter Belt for london and yet, you dont have belt for london and yet, you dont have the belt for london and yet, you dont have the benefits for the north of england have the benefits for the north of england connecting data to the midlands. ,. , ~ england connecting data to the midlands. ,. ,~. , midlands. Rishi sunak made the announcement midlands. Rishi sunak made the announcement at midlands. Rishi sunak made the announcement at the midlands. Rishi sunak made the i announcement at the conservative Party Conference accompanied soon after by a video on x formerly known as twitter but it looked like the video was recorded at Downing Street which must� ve happened before rishi sunak left for manchester which implies the decision on hs2 have been taken even while he and his cabinet colleagues were saying it had not. Confused . He asked the Transport Secretary just what had not. Confused . He asked the Transport Secretaryjust what had been going on. The formal decision was taken by me as Transport Secretary on tuesday this week and it was agreed by the cabinet on wednesday morning. Shortly after which, the Prime Minister announced in his conference speech. 50 minister announced in his conference seech. Speech. So he filmed the cancellation speech. So he filmed the cancellation video speech. So he filmed the cancellation video at speech. So he filmed the cancellation video at downing speech. So he filmed the cancellation video at Downing Street cancelling it before you formally cancelled it . Cancelling it before you formally cancelled it . ~. ,. , cancelled it . What is the order . He fumes a video cancelled it . What is the order . He fumes a video in cancelled it . What is the order . He fumes a video in the cancelled it . What is the order . He fumes a video in the same cancelled it . What is the order . He fumes a video in the same way cancelled it . What is the order . He fumes a video in the same way we | fumes a video in the same way we would prepare a document in advanced of me taking a decision because you do things in advance. You dontjust make things up on the back of a Cigarette Packet because we have been working on it for a long time to think through the consequences of cancelling the second phase of hs2 and to look at the alternative way you can invest £36 billion in transport Infrastructure Investment across the country. We worked all that through, the decision for me, was for me to take, legally which i took on tuesday and it was agreed by the cabinet on wednesday and then announced by the Prime Minister. To make sense of this all live now to our political reporter, david cornock. David, lets start with that route because i supposed to cut to the heart of what is at the issue is whether rishi sunak wasnt being straight with voters because if this was pre recorded, of course he spent hours and days in the run up to that announcement insisting that the decision had not yet been made. Thats right. It is pretty clear that video was recorded in Downing Street before the conservative Party Conference began at the start of the week. I thought in mark hopper analysis there, the word formal was doing a lot of work, because the speculation about the future of hs2 has been around for weeks and it is pretty clear the Direction Of Travel in terms of the policy if you were wondering rishi sunak also recorded another video in which he announced the project would go ahead whilst mark said no, he didnt. To the project would go ahead whilst mark said no, he didnt. Mark said no, he didnt. To the wider fallout, mark said no, he didnt. To the wider fallout, because mark said no, he didnt. To the wider fallout, because of mark said no, he didnt. To the l wider fallout, because of course, the logos at the conference was all about the Big Decisions for the future, but in terms of the short term dividing lines, absolutely clear, but the challenge that the Prime Minister has laid out for keir starmer, what did you make, what was your assessment of what the leader of the opposition was saying . Keir starmer choosing his words very carefully in a series of interviews with colleagues and the bbc� s nations and regions, choosing the similar phrase, all the time, that labour cannot commit to a going ahead and there are two reasons for that. Firstly, a lot of the money allocated for hs2 is not being reallocated for other projects. The other point that keir starmer made was that of release of lands that would have been used for the tracks. Well, that means that land is no longer available and is being released and will not be available for hs2. Sue if you think it will go ahead under a labour government, that looks pretty unlikely as well. A brief word about compensation for all of those people caught up in the territory that the second leg was actually said was to head through. Lot of questions about that, the Transfer Secretary who be heard from a moment ago saying, no new compensation. Transport secretary for all the clearly lives have been affected on that, but presumably the withdrawal of that leg, the cancellation of that leg means that the grounds for fresh compensation as the government sees it, will no longer apply. fix. As the government sees it, will no longer apply as the government sees it, will no longer apply. A final thought, going back to rishi longer apply. A final thought, going back to rishi sunaks longer apply. A final thought, going back to rishi sunaks big longer apply. A final thought, going back to rishi sunaks Big Speech Back to rishi sunaks big speech because clearly he was laying out the way he describes, big changes, Big Decisions, that was his pitch yesterday. But a lot of focus in the 24 yesterday. But a lot of focus in the 2a hours since that address on some big areas he did not talk in great detail about, big areas he did not talk in great detailabout, one big areas he did not talk in great detail about, one of those, of course, the cost of Rishi Sunak Arguing that he wanted his speech to be remembered for those three things on Education I152 be remembered for those three things on education ,. ,. , ~ on Education H52 and the smoking ban, but on Education H52 and the smoking ban. But people on Education H52 and the smoking ban, but people asking on Education H52 and the smoking ban, but people asking today, on Education H52 and the smoking | ban, but people asking today, what about the cost of living crisis. Rishi sunak could point to that speech to his argument that, yes, people want tax cuts, but in terms of his own policy, the best tax cut will be getting inflation down. But that still of course means prices are going up. That still of course means prices are going no that still of course means prices are going up. David, thank you for takin now to ukraine, where the interior Affairs Minister says a Missile Attack on a village in the northeast Kharkiv Region has killed at least 51 people, including a six year old boy. Local Officials Say villagers had gathered in a cafe for a wake when the strike hit, and most families in the village have lost someone. President zelensky has called it � an act of russian terror�. Our correspondent James Waterhouse gave me more of the initial details from kyiv. The standards of the almost daily Missile Strikes that ukraine experiences, this one looks especially bleak. Lode experiences, this one looks especially bleak. Experiences, this one looks especially bleak. We have seen footaae especially bleak. We have seen footage posted especially bleak. We have seen footage posted online especially bleak. We have seen footage posted online by especially bleak. We have seen | footage posted online by official channels appearing to show several bodies covered in dust next to rubble in the small village. This is a village with a population of only a village with a population of only a few hundred sitting in the North Eastern khakis region. Now, this is a village with a population of only a few hundred. It sits in the northeastern Kharkiv Region, around 30 kilometers from the front line. It is not uncommon for settlements in this area to come under regular shelling or Missile Strikes because of their proximity to the front line. But this looks like an especially deadly targeted strike in what would normally be a civilian area. Were told several people are injured. You can expect the Rescue Operation to continue for some time. It is a it is a routine, well rehearsed for emergency teams all around ukraine. We have seen russia target cities in the east countless times before, but this seems to be the single biggest loss of life from a Missile Strike weve seen in several months. I think of the the strike on dnipro on a residential block injanuary where more than 50 people were killed. This seems to be looking similar, sadly, and i think the facts will emerge in time. And james, as you were talking, we were looking at the moving pictures. We also have still pictures as we try to to ascertain. But certainly you can see just whole areas flattened as those Rescue Workers try to actually go through the rubble and get to people. And the details certainly on casualties are emerging and changing all the while. Tell me a little more, though, about this whole area and the intensity of fighting around it. Well, its the Kharkiv Region that large parts of it were occupied in the full scale invasion of last year. It wouldnt be liberated until the autumn of 2022, but this is a place where there has been heavy fighting. And when youre there, when you get towards the front line, you can hear increased shelling and you can see that there are strikes right along the contact line, right across the russian border, further north. These are communities that live with an awful lot and choose to stay there despite the very real daily risks. And president Zelensky We Talk About well rehearsed routines. Hes on a diplomatic trip to spain to reinforce his calls for more help, for more ammunition, for better defences. And hes had to react to yet another attack. And in his words, hes described it as russia, using this strike to normalise what he calls its genocidal attacks, to try and normalise those for the rest of the world. Now, from initial assessment of this footage, and you strangely get a sense here, it does look like quite a direct hit with something, this is more than shelling. And, you know, you wonder i think ukrainians live with that Background Threat of wondering whether Something Like this will happen close to them. And this seems to be the case once more. You know, its incredibly difficult imagery of people looking over dead bodies, wondering if it was someone they knew. And what always strikes you when youre in the east is how those who have decided to Stay Thousands have moved back home, even to the east, despite the threat not going away. And i think this is the risk, the Background Risk that many ukrainians choose to live with. European leaders are meeting in the spanish city of granada with ukraine and migration the two big issues being discussed. 47 eu and non eu leaders have gathered including Prime Minister rishi sunak who is pushing for what he calls, � creative, europe wide solutions� to the continent� s migration crisis. On ukraine, with infighting in the Us Republican Party slowing down any aid from washington, the support coming from europe has become even more vital for president zelensky. He made a point of being at the meeting in person and this is the message he wanted to get across. We must not allow putin to destabilise any other parts of the world and our partners in order to ruin europe� s power, we must continue to put pressure with sanctions, politically and economically, so that russia cannot spread chaos. The presence of russia, its military or proxies on the territory of any other country is a threat to all of us. Iam sure. And we must all Work Together to push russia out of the territory of other countries. Earlier i spoke to our Diplomatic CorrespondentJames Landale who� s in granada. I think the weekend� s political uncertainties in washington Have Cast A Long Shadow across the atlantic because it is very much a concern here in spain. All the leaders who have been arriving, many of them have been rushing up to the cameras to reinforce their own personal support for ukraine, saying, look, we� ll be there for as long as it takes. We� ll be there to the to the very end. Ursula von der leyen, the head of the european commission, said, look, she� s very confident american support will continue. President zelensky himself said that he was confident that us support would remain, but it felt very much like people saying stuff to encourage each other and jolly each other along. It� s a real, genuine concern. And when i asked joseph borrell, the eu Foreign Policy chief, whether or not europe will be able to fill the gap if europe does, if the us does start reducing its support to ukraine. Mr borrell was very clear. He said that, you know, europe could not make up that loss. And that is the reality that i think european leaders and mr zelensky are facing, that that is a possibility they might have to grapple with. And james, in terms of president zelensky, when he looks to europe, when he looks to nato, in terms of additional help, what is pending . Well, he made very clear when he arrived this morning that his immediate, immediate need, as in what he needs right now, today, is more air defenses. He and his team believe that some time coming as the winter comes on in ukraine, russia will launch a fresh onslaught of missiles, those nightly missiles that we� ve seen so often before against ukraine� s energy infrastructure. There� s Power Stations that russia wants to take out so that ukrainians freeze during those bitter winters. He needs more air defenses. So that� s his immediate priority. He also needs more shells. We heard warnings from nato leaders earlier this morning saying that european stockpiles, they� re reaching the bottom of the barrel. So there� s concern about that as well. On top of all the political concerns, the broader picture that mr zelensky has, as ever, he says, we need a new European Security architecture. That� s just shorthand for early talks that he wants for nato membership. Just those early discussions so that that idea, that process of ukraine joining the Nato Alliance can have a sense of momentum. He doesn� t have it at the moment, and that� s what he wants. Around the world and across the uk. This is bbc news. Let� s look at some other stories making news. A man who took a crossbow to Windsor Castle on Christmas D