Chancellor Sajid Javid is set to give his backing to the controversial HS2 project, despite spiralling costs that could surpass £100bn.

The high-speed rail scheme linking London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds has been beset by setbacks because of budgetary and environmental concerns, with the government facing calls for a public inquiry.

But Mr Javid is understood to be ready to “broadly back” the ambitious initiative and will signal his support during a meeting with Transport Secretary Grant Shapps and Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday.

HS2 is the biggest infrastructure project in Europe and a recently leaked draft of a government review suggests costs could balloon from the £56bn originally allocated in 2015 to upwards of £107bn.

Some £8bn has already been spent on the project, which the prime minister has promised an update on “shortly”.

Mr Johnson told the House of Commons on Wednesday that MPs would not have to wait long for an announcement, although Mr Shapps has said no decision will be made public this week.

Whatever the government decides to do, it marks one of the first major domestic policy debates among senior ministers since the general election last month.

Mr Johnson has already disappointed some in his party by agreeing to allow Chinese telecoms firm Huawei to help build Britain’s 5G mobile network, and HS2 has proven to be a similarly divisive issue.

Some Tory MPs shouted “no, no” when the project was brought up during PMQs this week.

The controversy surrounding the project has contributed to a significant delay to the opening of the planned first phase, which would have linked London and Birmingham when it opened in 2026.

Full services are now not expected to begin until sometime between 2031 and 2036.

Environmental protesters will no doubt continue to oppose the project in the most disruptive way they can if the government decides to plough on.

Earlier this month, one group of demonstrators tried to block the railway’s construction by attaching themselves to trees along the planned route.

However, business chiefs in the North have argued that HS2 is crucial to boosting transport links across the region and providing increased capacity on the overcrowded rail network.

Construction firms have also warned of serious damage to their industry if the project is scrapped now.

Thursday’s meeting between Messrs Johnson, Javid and Shapps comes as the chancellor puts pressure on cabinet colleagues to identify where cuts of 5% could be made to their departmental budgets.

Sky News understands the government wants to overhaul or abolish programmes, projects and quangos associated with previous governments, rather than looking to squeeze salaries or introduce welfare cuts.

The PM and chancellor want the savings in order to spend on their “priority outcomes”, including the NHS.

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