The writing was already on the wall when the Leeds leg of HS2 was curtailed and now the axing of the Manchester line is just confirmation of what many people in the region already knew, which is that this Government cares little about the North.

In its place the PM, during his address to the Conservative Party Conference, announced a hodgepodge of transport infrastructure improvements for the North.

The only problem being that even those who hadn’t been won over by argument for HS2 in the North don’t really believe that this Government will deliver any of these promises.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak delivers his keynote speech at the Conservative Party annual conference at Manchester Central convention complex. PIC: Danny Lawson/PA Wire

This is a Government in its death throes, desperately trying to convince voters that it doesn’t deserve the punishment that awaits it at the next General Election.

Andy Burnham, the Labour Mayor of Manchester, was right to call it a transport plan patched together in hotel rooms ahead of a party’s conference. The details of the plan will be picked at as and when they emerge but as it stands the whole idea for Network North is incoherent.

Especially when it doesn’t deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in full to Leeds.

There are elements to be welcomed in the plan - West Yorkshire is in desperate need for a mass transit system and Bradford needs better connectivity to Manchster.

However, can the North actually trust what the Government says? The litany of broken promises have undermined the Government in this region.

The irony of the Prime Minister using his party’s conference in Manchester to cut off HS2 to the city will not be lost on the people living there.

The Government isn't fooling anyone as HS2 betrayal is confirmed - The Yorkshire Post says