Andy McDonald: Only Labour will halt Grayling's betrayal of North

LAST week, the Transport Secretary Chris Grayling wrote an article in these pages, How I plan to get transport back on track in North, in which he argued that, far from abandoning the North, the Government's 'commitment to Northern transport has never been stronger'. In truth, the North suffers from poor connectivity and under-investment, and that gap is set to widen further under the Conservatives.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling stands accused of betraying the North.Transport Secretary Chris Grayling stands accused of betraying the North.
Transport Secretary Chris Grayling stands accused of betraying the North.

That isn’t to say that the Government is making no investment in the North. Parliament this week debated the next phase of High Speed Two and the route north from the West Midlands. It was a reminder of the importance of transport investment to the North of England and Yorkshire in driving regional economic growth and improving connectivity between cities. The Government is to be commended on continuing with the HS2 project which was started under Labour.

The Labour Party supports the nearly 30,000 jobs HS2 will deliver, and the huge uplift it will give to apprenticeships and training, particularly in Yorkshire. We need to consider how we will retain and develop those skills in the future in other infrastructure work both at home and abroad.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

I’d like to see young rail engineers and other workers from the North working on HS2 and then moving on to projects such Northern Powerhouse Rail. We should have a rolling programme of investment to support these jobs and give firms certainty.

Unfortunately, this is a pipe dream. HS2 alone does not compensate for the lack of a vision for transport or any sort of strategic plan for rail investment in the North. The Conservatives made promises to modernise and upgrade rail lines and then broke them soon after.

This Government has let down Yorkshire on transport. Only last summer long-promised plans to electrify the TransPennine and Midland Mainline routes were cancelled. Chris Grayling defended his decision, saying the upgrades were no longer necessary because of the rapid evolution of part-diesel, part-electric bi-mode trains.

But bi-mode trains are not a new technology, nor are they rapid. They accelerate slowly, cost more to maintain and undermine air quality targets. They are bad news for passengers and bad news for the environment.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

When invited to defend his claims in front the Transport Select Committee, Mr Grayling refused to provide the evidence on which he took his decision. Had he believed the evidence for the Government’s commitment to the North was compelling, he would not be refusing to share it.

I remain surprised that Transport Secretary Chris Grayling can say with a straight face that the Government is committed to northern transport. His decision to cancel the East Coast rail franchise last November will cost taxpayers £2bn in lost payments and will not provide the services or investment rail passengers in Wakefield or Leeds were promised.

From his bailouts of failing train companies, to the scrapping of promised upgrades and the defence of his decision to award lucrative contracts to the jack-of-all-trades construction company Carillion for HS2, Mr Grayling’s judgment has been found wanting on too many occasions.

In his article, the Secretary of State pointed to the establishment of Transport for the North as enabling Yorkshire and the North to “shape their own transport vision”, yet the body has been denied both the powers and funding enjoyed by Transport for London that 
would allow it truly to make an impact.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Transport for the North is enabled to do little other than advise the Government who are then free to ignore its recommendations. It is yet another broken promise on transport from the Conservatives.

All of this comes after the respected IPPR North once again highlighted the disparities between transport investment in London and the rest of the country. The think-tank’s figures show that the capital gets £4,155 per person, which is more than five times the investment received by Yorkshire and the Humber.

In fact, Yorkshire has the lowest spend on transport of anywhere in the UK, and no amount of massaged figures and unsubstantiated claims from the Department for Transport will compensate for underinvestment in the region. The North needs more than just warm words from the Transport Secretary. It needs powers and investment and, for that, a Labour government.

Andy McDonald is Labour’s Shadow Transport Secretary and the MP for Middlesbrough.