Dividing lines emerge over high speed rail

The Prime Minister has accused Ed Balls of failing the north after the shadow chancellor revealed he wants to halt High Speed 2 and fix east west trains instead.
By The Newsroom
Published 26th Mar 2015, 16:51 BST
The Government has yet to make a convincing case as to why the £50 billion HS2 high-speed rail project is necessary, a highly-critical report by a House of Lords committee has said.The Government has yet to make a convincing case as to why the £50 billion HS2 high-speed rail project is necessary, a highly-critical report by a House of Lords committee has said.
The Government has yet to make a convincing case as to why the £50 billion HS2 high-speed rail project is necessary, a highly-critical report by a House of Lords committee has said.

Mr Balls told The Yorkshire Post it was “absurd” to spend £50bn building north south links before the east west links were improved, saying the Government was engaged in “topsy turvy” economics.

Now David Cameron has said the move shows Labour was turning it sback on an infrastructure project the north desperately needs.

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The PM said: “The very worrying news today is that Labour are calling into question the links between Birmingham and Manchester and Birmingham and Leeds, and this would be an immense slap in the face from Labour to the West Midlands, the East Midlands and the North of the country and I cannot believe they are contemplating letting down British people in vital regions of our country in this way.”

He added: “The economic argument is very simple which is we need another railway line from London and up to the North of the country.”

Related topics:Ed BallsLabourPrime MinisterDavid CameronYorkshire PostGovernmentNorthBirmingham