Will he? Won’t he? Has he? Hasn’t he?

The construction industry and the nation at large have been waiting to know the prime minister’s decision on whether or not HS2 will be cut to a shuttle service between Acton and Aston.

And for a brief moment on Monday afternoon it seemed they had their answer when ITV’s Robert Peston reported that Rishi Sunak had made up his mind to cut the Manchester link and redistribute the money to other rail schemes in the north of England.