Inside Politics: PM accused of ‘betraying’ north with rail plan

Some 20 million set for scaled back proposals as northern MPs and civic leaders accuse Johnson of not delivering on what he promised, writes Matt Mathers

Friday 19 November 2021 08:28 GMT

(PA)

Northern Tories have accused the PM of “betraying” their region with his scaled-down rail plans. There were undoubtedly some positives in yesterday’s integrated review: journey times between some major cities – including Manchester and London – will be slashed and there are improved links for the Midlands. But it’s the lack of connectivity across the north that has voters, civic leaders and MPs there angry. A pledge to build a high-speed, east-west line across the north, connecting Manchester with Bradford and Leeds, has been derailed and the eastern leg of HS2 put on the scrap heap. Downing Street has promised to cut journey times across the region but these improvements are unlikely to deliver on reliability and capacity in the same way that a new line would have. Whatever way No 10 tries to spin upgrades for the north, they are not what was promised and appear to have added to a growing sense that the PM is not serious about “levelling up” and that northerners are always at the back of the queue when it comes to investment. Huw Merrian, the Tory MP who chairs the transport committee, accused Johnson of “selling perpetual sunlight and then leaving it for others to explain the arrival of moonlight”. Voters who took a chance on Johnson’s “levelling up” agenda might now be wondering if they were in fact sold a pup at the 2019 election.

Inside the bubble

Commons sits from 9.30am with several private members’ bills being heard.

Coming up:

– Labour leader Keir Starmer on BBC Radio 4 Today at 8.10am

– Transport secretary Grant Shapps on ITV GMB at 8.30am

Daily Briefing

RAIL FUTURE?: A furious Andy Burnham, the Manchester mayor nicknamed “King of the North”, said the proposals would leave the region behind “for the next 100 years”, claims dismissed by Johnson as “total rubbish”. Yesterday’s announcement means some 20 million Britons will not get exactly what Johnson repeatedly said they would. The long-awaited integrated rail review will scrap the upgrade of the Leamside line, affecting 1.1 million people across Tyne and Wear; cancel a high-speed line to Leeds and a new through station, affecting 4.2 million people in Manchester and Merseyside; and cut the eastern leg of HS2, meaning that 14.2 million people in London, Sheffield and the east Midlands will miss out on a high-speed link. Northern leaders demanded the review be put to a free vote in parliament – urging Tory MPs to “do some soul-searching” and vote against it. Jamie Driscoll, the North of Tyne mayor, said: “It really is the case that the government’s misjudged this, and misjudged the strength of feeling. Everybody in the north is getting a bargain-basement solution. It just doesn’t cut it.”

BREXIT LATEST: Brexit minister Lord Frost will hold further talks with European Commission vice-president Maros Sefcovic later, with the UK still warning that it could unilaterally suspend parts of the Northern Ireland protocol unless major changes are made. But Irish premier Micheal Martin said he was encouraged that progress is being made and the “mood music” has changed. In a BBC interview, he urged the UK against taking the step of triggering Article 16, the step which would suspend parts of Northern Ireland’s new trading arrangements. Meanwhile, former PM Bertie Ahern has been urged to apologise after he said loyalists had “no clue” about the UK-EU Northern Ireland Brexit deal. He claimed that people in “east Belfast and the ghettos and the areas where you are likely to get trouble” criticised the protocol without knowing how it worked. Elsewhere, post-Brexit red tape has caused a “severe” slump in the number of young people in Britain able to take advantage of seasonal work in the EU, travel industry leaders have said. Sector chiefs say the increased costs involved in hiring UK staff to work in bars, restaurants, hotels and resorts across Europe has resulted in jobs cuts for mostly young Britons.

‘PATRONISING’ PATEL: The Home Office has been accused of “underestimating the intelligence of voters” with “unworkable” policies that it claims will reduce the number of migrants entering the UK by crossing the Channel. Two former government ministers are among those who have criticised the department for pushing out “macho-sounding” plans to curb sea arrivals to the UK, while the home secretary, Priti Patel, is accused of “making it up as she goes along”. David Davis, who served as shadow immigration minister for the Conservatives from 2003 to 2008, told The Independent he believed his party was“underestimating the intelligence of voters” by floating “unworkable” policies – describing it as “patronising”. “My feeling is that it’s coming from young policy special advisers in No 10, who’ve taken a focus group or polling and tried to translate that into a very macho-sounding policy. My experience of macho-sounding policies is [that] more often than not, they go wrong,” he said.

On the record

“We were promised a Northern Powerhouse, we were promised a Midlands Engine, to be levelled up. But what we have been given today is a great train robbery.”

Shadow transport secretary Jim McMahon on integrated rail review.

From the Twitterati

“The only bit of his holiday he’s declared to Parliament is the use of the luxury private terminal. A gift from Heathrow Airport worth £1,600, which is sure to go down well with his constituents…”