HS2 is like one of those horrible anxiety dreams that keeps on recurring and you can’t make go away, no matter how hard you try.

I am quite ambivalent about a lot of things but not HS2. In my considered opinion, it may possibly have had some validity back in 2010 as a way of relieving pressure on the West Coast Mainline but the world has moved on since the idea was first conceived.

It should have been scrapped a long time before now.

If some good has come out of the pandemic it is the absolute proof people do not need to be face-to-face to hold meetings, that business and commerce has found new ways of trading. The better the internet becomes, the less the need for a business-orientated, hugely expensive high-speed connection to London.

In any event, I was never convinced that HS2 was an essential part of the so-called levelling up strategy. Rather than bringing prosperity to the cities of the north, it is my belief the effect was much more likely to attract our talent into London.

And that’s before taking into consideration all the environmental damage being done to ancient woodlands the construction process has brought about or the devastation for communities blighted by the proposed route.

Even putting all that on one side, the cost of the project is simply unsustainable. When HS2 was first approved in 2012, it was estimated it would cost an estimated £32.7bn. The latest estimate reveals that has now gone up to an eye-watering £107.7bn.

How can that be sustainable in the current economic climate? I respectfully suggest it isn’t.

Which brings me to the latest development in the HS2 saga.

The original plan was for HS2 to be Y-shaped. The line would run from London to a new station in Birmingham, with the western line going on to Crewe in Phase 2A.

After that, Phase 2B would see the western line continuing on from Crewe to Manchester Airport and then Manchester Piccadilly station.

While 2B was being constructed in the west, the plan was for an eastern leg built at the same time with a hub at Toton to connect Nottingham, Derby, Leicester and East Midlands Airport. The eastern 2B line would then go on to Leeds.

But now it looks like the eastern 2B line may not go ahead at all. According to a report in the Daily Mirror, plans for the route are to be ‘mothballed’ shortly, adding that Treasury chiefs reckon halting the Eastern leg, due to open by 2033, will save £40bn.

It says work on Phase 2B, was quietly halted last month over fears of soaring costs.

The Daily Mirror quotes a Whitehall source who said: “They might make some announcement about doing the work in the future but everyone involved knows the truth.

“They have run out of cash and there’s no way we’re going to see this built in our lifetimes.

“It shows how serious the Tories have been about levelling up all along.”

This will come as really bad news for Leeds which has already started work on a £500m station for HS2, and other projects in the city rely on it.

A suitably bland and non-committal statement from The Department for Transport insisted “no decisions” had been finalised. It said: “The Integrated Rail Plan will soon outline exactly how major rail projects, including HS2 phase 2B will work together to deliver the reliable train services the North and Midlands deserve.”

If the eastern leg is to be scrapped, all I can say is good, not a moment too soon. Now all they have to do is scrap the rest of this ridiculous vanity programme and disgraceful waste of money.

If the Government has billions sloshing round to spend on transport, can I respectfully suggest they stop churning up the Cheshire countryside with HS2 and put it to good use improving east-west connectivity for the great towns and cities of the north?

On a completely different subject, I was somewhat taken aback by a report in the Guardian that said pet wellness experts Itch had partnered with Robin Grey, author of ‘Coping with Pet Loss’ to provide advice for employers on implementing a pet bereavement policy.

(Yes, you read that right, a pet bereavement policy for employers).

Apparently, the policy would encourage employers to give paid leave to staff if their pet dies.

Itch says despite there being no current legal requirement to grant bereavement leave for a pet, the majority of people in the UK think this should be the case.

In which case, I must be in the minority. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve loved my pets and was sad and upset when they died but expecting my employers to give me paid leave because I was mourning my dead cat is faintly ridiculous.

Can I respectfully suggest there are far more important issues that need sorting out first?

Talk about a dead cat story.