Boris Johnson is tipped to finally approve HS2 to Birmingham this week as part of an infrastructure blitz designed to show he is serious about investing across the country.
But he risks angering many in the North after it emerged the future of the extension of the line to Manchester had been hurled into doubt.
The Prime Minister is expected to give the green light to the first stage of the high-speed line from London to the Midlands on Tuesday despite opposition from scores of Tory MPs.
He is likely to stop short of approving the second phase of the project to Manchester and Leeds - instead ordering extra analysis on the costs.
The announcement will form part of a broader infrastructure programme with the Government on Monday unveiling plans for up to 10 new free ports across the country.
At the same time, Mr Johnson is set to pledge more spending on Northern Powerhouse Rail - running across the Pennines - and patchy bus services, both long called for by Labour and local campaigners.
He is also expected to receive the results of a feasibility study into whether his plan for a £20bn bridge linking Scotland and Northern Ireland can be built.
Critics have described the idea as ‘pie in the sky’ and a waste of public money, while military experts have pointed out it would have to run over a huge WW2 munitions dump.
Ministers claim the plan for new free ports, which allow firms to import goods and then re-export them outside normal tax and customs rules, would boost growth and create thousands of jobs.
But Labour warned they were a “revival of a failed Thatcherite plan” that could actually take jobs and investment from poorer areas.
Shadow chancellor John McDonnell said: “This plan only represents a ‘levelling-up’ for the super-rich, who will use free ports to hoard assets and avoid taxes while the rest of us feel the effects of under-funded public services.”
Mr Johnson’s plans for a review of the HS2 section beyond Birmingham were yesterday slammed by Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester.
“That sounds like the same old story to me. London to Birmingham gets a gold plated railway and we get a second-class option or maybe nothing at all,” he said.
“For a Government that’s claiming to be standing for the North, I think this takes them into quite dangerous territory.”
But for the first time he called for Northern Powerhouse Rail to be prioritised ahead of the HS2 spur to his city, saying he was prepared to “make an offer” to Tory ministers over the timetable.
“There is room for a compromise here. Maybe it’s about taking the team who are working on HS2 north of Birmingham off that project and putting them on Northern Powerhouse rail,” he said.
West Midlands mayor Andy Street said he still believed the whole line would get the go-ahead.
Asked if he had “got one over” Dominic Cummings, the controversial No 10 aide who is against the project, he said: “Yes Dominic Cummings was against it, let the battle begin!”
The line from London to Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester has prompted a Tory civil war amid warnings its cost could spiral from £56bn to £106bn.
At least 60 Tory MPs have spoken out against the project but it has won the backing of key Cabinet ministers, including Chancellor Sajid Javid.
