Boris Johnson has been warned not to make empty promises to northern voters by offering infrastructure improvements that are decades away.
Andy Burnham, the mayor of Greater Manchester and a former Labour leadership hopeful, said people across the north should be wary of such promises.
The Conservatives pledged in their manifesto to invest tens of billions in the region’s infrastructure.
“Infrastructure is decades away – very easy things for politicians to promise because actually it is not going to be delivered anytime soon,” Burnham told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“The north definitely does need new infrastructure. The rail chaos that we see this morning even, with more cancellations across the north, is due to Victorian infrastructure more than anything. But they can’t say that they are doing everything to the north by simply promising infrastructure in the distant future. They have got to deal with the here and now.”
Burnham revealed the latest rough sleeping figures for Greater Manchester on Tuesday. The figures, taken from the rough sleeper count that took place in November 2019, showed that the number of people sleeping rough has fallen from 241 in November 2018 to 151 – a drop of 37% in one year.
Burnham has previously said he would like the government to commit funds to reduce homelessness. Each month, he donates 15% of his salary to help tackle rough sleeping in the region.
Burnham attributes the drop in homelessness to the success of his A Bed Every Night scheme. “Three thousand people have now been supported by A Bed Every Night and about a third of people who have used the scheme have moved to a fixed address. For a scheme that is just over a year old, that success rate is very, very high.”
The scheme provides a bed and emergency support for people sleeping rough who do not qualify for statutory provision.
The mayor repeated his call for the prime minister to take immediate steps towards relieving the problem of rough sleeping. “The manifesto commitment to ending rough sleeping by 2027 is the worst kind of political promise. We need to see a more urgent change in national policy. If the government released the extra £54m that has already been allocated to tackle rough sleeping, they would save lives this winter,” he said.
Burnham said Labour under Jeremy Corbyn’s leadership had been “thwarting” its traditional voters’ views on Brexit, and that the party was in a “pretty dark place right now” after its worst general election loss since 1935.
“We’ve always been a coalition between traditional supporting working-class communities and, let’s say, a university-educated liberal left,” he said.
“Labour has not been speaking to both sides of that coalition for some time. And actually, with the position taken on Brexit at the recent election, it was almost as if they were thwarting the views of people who had been our traditional supporters. Labour has got to speak to both sides of that coalition.”
Jake Berry, the minister for the northern powerhouse, dismissed Burnham’s warnings on spending and said his party would not let down northern voters.
“Northern MPs are going to hunt like a pack in this new parliament. The balance of power has shifted north and we’re going to make sure towns and cities across the north see real, tangible benefits,” he said.
“Millions of northerners put their faith in the Conservative party last week and we will do everything we possibly can to repay people’s confidence. We won’t take you for granted and we won’t let you down.”
Kevin Hollinrake, the Conservative MP for Thirsk and Malton, said Brexit and the threat of a Corbyn government would no longer be priorities in five years’ time and urged the government to think of a longer-term plan to retain voters.
He told the Yorkshire Post: “There’s no debate, in my experience knocking on doors, that people do have confidence in Boris, they did not like Jeremy Corbyn, they did want Brexit; but we know some of those factors won’t be around in five years’ time, so those votes are borrowed and if we want them to keep them, which we do, we will have to have some measures in place.”
Henri Murison, the director of the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, urged the government to move on from Brexit and focus on local issues.
He said: “The expectation that the government plans to direct billions of pounds of additional investment into the northern powerhouse, after several years of lacklustre backing under Theresa May, is of course welcome news for those across the north.
“We expect key decisions on HS2 and northern powerhouse rail to be made in a budget early next year. Questions such as whether to build the route in full and a new city centre station in Bradford will demonstrate whether the prime minister is truly serious about the north beyond the issue of Brexit in many communities like Scunthorpe or Stockton. This will be less relevant in any future election alongside a potentially very different Labour leadership.”
