Mark Casci: Government credibility will be shattered if it breaks its promises on northern transport links

'We have no intention of suddenly throwing away all the commitments we have made. There will be a new flavour to the manifesto when it comes, of course there will be, but the reality is that we've made promises and we endeavour to keep our promises.'
Antony Calvert, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Wakefield with Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, at Wakefield Kirkgate Station, one month before the election.Antony Calvert, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Wakefield with Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, at Wakefield Kirkgate Station, one month before the election.
Antony Calvert, Conservative parliamentary candidate for Wakefield with Chris Grayling, Secretary of State for Transport, at Wakefield Kirkgate Station, one month before the election.

These were the exact words of Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to The Yorkshire Post just a few weeks ago on the campaign trail.

The remarks brought great comfort to many in the region, who have been promised a great deal when it comes to the infrastructure spending which is so crucial to unlocking the north’s potential.

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However fast forward to the summer recess and this pledge is already unravelling at a rate of knots.

A train heading to London from Sheffield train station. The Midland Mainline is the only North-South rail route that is not electrifiedA train heading to London from Sheffield train station. The Midland Mainline is the only North-South rail route that is not electrified
A train heading to London from Sheffield train station. The Midland Mainline is the only North-South rail route that is not electrified

Last week businesses and commuters were told by the Government that its promise to electrify a key rail link between Yorkshire and London would not be kept.

The planned upgrade of the Midland Main Line from Sheffield to the capital was to be scrapped, with an implausible fudge offered instead with the claim that new trains due to come on steam would make the investment unnecessary.

This came not too long after similar plans to electrify the route between Hull and Selby were scrapped.

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Next up was the bombshell delivered to the Financial Times over the weekend that similar plans for the electrification of the torturously slow route between Leeds and Manchester may also be diluted.

TrainsTrains
Trains

Given the increasingly dim forecasts for Britain’s economic short-term future one would have imagined this marked the start of Government slowly battening down the hatches when it comes to infrastructure projects across the country.

That is until we learned that Mr Grayling is lending its backing to the £30bn Crossrail 2 scheme for the capital.

Within around an hour of so of the news breaking the IPPR North think tank did some number crunching and showed that the north would have seen £59 billion more over the last decade, if it had received the same per person for infrastructure as London.

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This was quickly followed by statements, ranging in emotion from measured disquiet to outright rage, from politicians and business people, rightly aggrieved that once again the capital, already home to so many first class transport networks, is being favoured over the rest of the country.

(left to right) International Trade Secretary  Liam Fox, Defence Secretary Sir Michel Fallon, Transport Secretary  Chris Grayling, Chief Whip Gavin Williamson and Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes leave following a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 18, 2017. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire(left to right) International Trade Secretary  Liam Fox, Defence Secretary Sir Michel Fallon, Transport Secretary  Chris Grayling, Chief Whip Gavin Williamson and Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes leave following a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 18, 2017. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire
(left to right) International Trade Secretary Liam Fox, Defence Secretary Sir Michel Fallon, Transport Secretary Chris Grayling, Chief Whip Gavin Williamson and Leader of the House of Lords Baroness Evans of Bowes leave following a cabinet meeting in Downing Street, London. PRESS ASSOCIATION Photo. Picture date: Tuesday July 18, 2017. Photo credit should read: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire

The anger was perhaps summed up best by West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee chairman Keith Wakefield, a man who has spent a lifetime in public service and witnessed decades of investment disparity, who called the decision “a betrayal of the north”.

I am no conspiracy theorist but it is starting to feel like the Government is holding the north responsible for not delivering the election result it wanted.

The Tories have long since known that the only road to power for them lies in the northern constituencies which kept Margaret Thatcher in power for so long.

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Their strong performance in 2015 saw them pick up many traditional Labour seats and when Theresa May called the snap election in the Spring the part will have looked to the north, and its impressive inroads in Scotland, as being key to delivering an increased majority. As well all know this was not what the electorate delivered.

A train heading to London from Sheffield train station. The Midland Mainline is the only North-South rail route that is not electrifiedA train heading to London from Sheffield train station. The Midland Mainline is the only North-South rail route that is not electrified
A train heading to London from Sheffield train station. The Midland Mainline is the only North-South rail route that is not electrified

One can only assume that the present Government is either uncaring or unaware of the message of disrespect it is showing this part of the world.

If ever there was a time for tribalism to be abandoned and for the North to speak as one voice it is now. We cannot continue to be placed on a lower strata than that of the South East.

Mr Grayling needs to make good on the words he uttered during the campaign or his Government’s credibility will be shattered, possibly beyond repair. We simply cannot take this lying down.

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