Keir Starmer has accused the prime minister of “letting down everyone in the north” after his government announced it was axing a promised high-speed railway between Manchester and Leeds, as well as the eastern leg of the HS2.
Speaking to reporters from a Bradford rail station, the Labour leader accused Boris Johnson of “failing [his] first test of levelling up” and warned the public they “can’t believe a word the prime minister says”.
Mr Johnson has already insisted it is “total rubbish” to suggest he has broken pledges made on rail connections, instead doubling down on his claim that the government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP) will bring “massive, massive gains” – particularly for young commuters.
In response to Grant Shapps confirming scaled-back Northern Powerhouse plans, as well as the total abandonment of HS2’s line from Birmingham to Leeds, Labour’s Bridget Phillipson shared an unearthed clip of now-chancellor Rishi Sunak arguing for the government to support northern rail investment when he was a backbencher.
“London has Crossrail, the Midlands are getting HS2, now we in the north need the government to back Northern Powerhouse,” the Tory MP for Richmond, in North Yorkshire, can be heard telling the Commons in the video.
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