HS2 may not reach the North but at least London’s roads are getting smoother - The Yorkshire Post says
The Government has made many promises to the North when it comes to investment in transport infrastructure. However, all of those promises invariably resulted in u-turns and disappointment.
Nothing quite summed up the Government’s betrayal of the region than the abandonment of the Northern leg of HS2. It was the Government’s flagship scheme.
It was supposed to be a beacon for levelling up. Instead it has become a symbol of the very divide that has riddled Britain for decades.
The difference between the region and London is night and day when it comes to public transport.
So after pulling the plug on HS2, you’d expect the Department for Transport to make investment in the North the priority instead of using its X, formerly known as Twitter, account to boast of how money saved from scrapping HS2 for the North is now helping improve London’s roads.
It only adds to the fear that the whole Network North plan is a face saving exercise by the Government.
London’s roads may require improvement but ministers would be tone deaf not to realise what it looks like to voters in the North. Voters who helped the Tories to a majority at the last General Election, which was partly due to promises of levelling up.
The subsequent four years have shown that the Government has anything but any intention to level up Britain.
But at least London will get smoother roads to go with its smooth public transport infrastructure.
Meanwhile, in the North people will have to take solace in more promises of jam tomorrow.