Clegg calls on Labour to back North over HS2

The Deputy Prime Minister said yesterday it “beggars belief” that a party which “constantly parades itself as the authentic voice of the North” is now considering “turning its back” on the biggest investment in Northern infrastructure in decades.

The £42.6bn rail project was conceived by Labour when it was last in office, and has received vocal backing from the party for the past three years. But last month Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls, the MP for Morley and Outwood, said he had doubts about the scheme’s “benefits” and that Labour’s support was under review.

The party has suggested it may not make a final decision on HS2 before the next election, meaning the project could become a contentious part of any future coalition negotiations should there be a second hung Parliament in 2015.

Asked by the Yorkshire Post if he was prepared to compromise on HS2 in any future Government, Mr Clegg said bluntly: “No

“I was in Sheffield yesterday meeting business leaders, and they are absolutely appalled at the way Labour appears to be betraying the North. And it just beggars belief that a party that constantly parades itself as the authentic voice of the North of England is now prepared to turn its back on the businesses, the communities, the families, which all the evidence shows will benefit disproportionately from an investment in a high-speed North/South railway line.”

Aides to Mr Clegg insisted afterwards the Lib Dems have not yet set out any official “red line” issues for future coalition negotiations, but Mr Clegg made crystal clear the scale of his fury with Labour over HS2.

“I just think it’s miserable, it’s pathetic, that an idea we inherited from Labour, and in all good faith took forward – because we thought that given they were the architects of the idea they might support it – when it becomes politically convenient to start playing games with it, they start playing games with it,” the Sheffield Hallam MP said.

The issue returns to Parliament today when the first of two HS2 Bills comes before the Commons for its third reading. Labour has indicated its MPs will support the Bill, meaning the chances of the Government losing the vote are very slim.

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