Tories trying to con the North over transport, says Minister

LABOUR has accused the Conservatives of trying to "con the North" for failing to publish any findings from a commission to look at transport problems in the region – a year after setting it up.

The Tories announced the inquiry in March 2008 as part of a drive to win over northern voters and it was launched last January with promises of touring the North to gather ideas.

But last night Transport Secretary Lord Adonis claimed there was no evidence this had happened. "The Tories are trying to con the North with their plans on transport.

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"They were happy to get the headlines for launching their transport commission but there have been no results over the past year. The commission was nothing more than a Press release.

"People deserve to know what the Tories are really promising. They should not be allowed to plan to cut transport investment 'further and faster' and try to hide this with talk of transport commissions that deliver absolutely nothing."

He said under Labour "record improvements" had been made to the region's transport infrastructure. Spending had risen from 900m in 2003-4 to 1.1 billion in 2007-8. Investment included almost 1bn on upgrading the A1 through Yorkshire and assisting councils with extra funding for concessionary fares.

More services now ran between London and Sheffield and there were plans for more and quicker trains on the East Coast route. A total of 1.1bn of Government funding was also being spent on 44 major road and public transport schemes.

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A Conservative Party spokesman rejected the criticisms. He said: "We know that transport is one of the key priorities for Yorkshire after 12 years of Labour failing the region.

"That is why our commission on transport in the North was launched and we have given the commission panel the time and space they have asked for to speak to residents, business leaders and industry experts about what any Conservative government's priorities should be.

"We have already committed to High Speed Rail linking Yorkshire and London directly – something which Labour has failed to do."