Political opinion: Tom Gordon - Once again, the Government has betrayed the north
In its announcement in the last week of January, the Government once again failed to deliver anything new for the North, focusing most of its investment on projects in the South.
The Labour Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, outlined a vision that highlighted the ever-growing divide between the North and South of England. While the South stands to benefit from significant projects including a third runway at Heathrow, new rail links between Oxford and Cambridge, and the development of a “British Silicon Valley,” the North has been left with little more than a list of recycled ideas.
The North, yet again, is being ignored. In the last few years we lost first the Leeds and then the Manchester legs of HS2, which has now become a fundamentally London-centric project. The vast potential of the North, should it have better transport links, has been ignored, as has the fact that the Manchester-Birmingham leg of HS2 was the one predicted to bring the most benefits.
Projects for the North announced by Reeves were few and far between - redevelopment around Manchester United’s Old Trafford stadium, and finally reopening Doncaster airport. While these may be of local interest, it hardly addresses the systemic underinvestment in the region. For the most part, the Government simply resurrected old ideas, doing nothing to address regional inequalities and opportunities.
The Bolton-Wigan line electrification, TransPennine route upgrades, and improvements to Bradford Forster Square all predate this Government, with only the TransPennine route seeing any actual work.
The decisions made by the Government mirror a broader pattern of neglect that has plagued the North for decades. The repeated promises of “levelling up” from the Conservatives miserably failed to materialise, whilst promises of growth from Labour in reality seems to mean the majority of resources continuing to be funnelled into the South. The message from Westminster is clear: the North simply doesn’t matter as much. It’s made all the more ironic when Rachel Reeves’ own seat is in Leeds.
And then we have the Government's environmental hypocrisy. Rather than focusing on expanding air travel in the South, why not invest in better rail connections across the North and to Europe?
Teeside airport, for instance, is already well-connected by rail, offering an ideal opportunity for growth in the freight and travel sectors. Leeds-Bradford Airport lies barely more than a mile – less than 2 kilometres – from the Harrogate-Leeds railway line – why not build a connection? Can we not electrify all the commuter lines across the North, something London has had for going on a century and a half – providing cleaner and quicker travel? The North deserves bold new projects, not the resurrection of old ideas that should have been done years ago.
It is time for real investment in the North. We’ve waited too long. The Government must stop neglecting its great potential and deliver infrastructure throughout the country equally. We’ve been patient long enough. If the Government wants “growth” as they claim, that means investment, to give business confidence – and it means proper investment in the North to -at a minimum – match that going into London and the South East. We cannot be left behind once again.