Words matter over HS2 and levelling up; our invitation to Boris Johnson – The Yorkshire Post says

Answering a question posed 24 hours after the National Infrastructure Commission suggested that regional schemes in the North took precedence, Boris Johnson saw no reason why MML improvements could not take place “as well”. He concluded by saying that the Government’s commitment to HS2, and specifically the spur from the west Midlands to Yorkshire, was “absolutely unchanged”.

Clear? The PM certainly gave the impression that this is, indeed, the case – but this latter answer was preceded by a very small caveat which he will not thank The Yorkshire Post for observing and putting on the record.

He suggested that the eastern leg of HS2 was the Government’s “ambition” – a far more ambiguous word, with consequences for the future, that wasn’t immediately clear when Mr Johnson was speaking.

This region now awaits the Government’s response to the unhelpful NIC report that did not sufficiently acknowledge decades of under-investment in transport infrastructure here compared to London.

But just as important is the Government’s definition of ‘‘levelling up’’, a catch-all phrase that has become part of the political lexicon, the policies that Ministers intend to pursue – and how they expect to be judged and held to account. As such, this is an open invitation to the PM to set out that New Year blueprint on the pages of this newspaper. After all, words – and deeds – matter.

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