The Cabinet descended on Yorkshire yesterday in a carefully stage-managed but largely irrelevant meeting to announce something that has been announced before, using money earmarked for something else and with a delivery date that is largely unknown.
Just this weekend, Rishi Sunak vowed to revitalise Britain’s forgotten regions by pumping almost £5bn into improving transport links – firing up the engine of the North shouted the Sunday Express front page.
It appears then that the North has just had its boundaries redrawn.
As it turns out, the £4.7bn pot is to be split between the Midlands and the North, with the North getting £2.5bn of the allocation according to ITV.
I’m sure that the Midlands’ case is as equally deserving as the North’s, but perhaps it would help the prime minister if he understood his geography a little better. Although, it has to be said that some of his Cabinet are so unsure of the geography they did not trust themselves to use the public transport, with Grant Shapps choosing to do the hour long journey by helicopter.
Northern Cabinet meeting: same old ground
To be quite honest this is all totally irrelevant. Nothing substantial has emerged since the cancellation of HS2 – and nothing of any note emerged today as Henri Murison, chief executive of the Northern Powerhouse, noted on the Today programme on BBC Radio 4.
Not only is this money a re-announcement but, in fact, there is the question of where that £36bn that was earmarked for HS2 is going. I’m no mathematician but even my two-year-old granddaughter can tell you that £36bn is a much, much bigger figure than the almost £5bn now pledged toward revamping Northern transport infrastructure. So where is the rest going? Or gone?
According to Yorkshire Live the prime minister has promised to reinvest “every single penny” of the £36bn previously earmarked for the HS2 scheme into hundreds of new transport projects. It’s just not going to be any time soon. If ever.
The waiting for investment is far from over
It matters not a jot. These are all big infrastructure projects and will take years to come to fruition. To be quite honest, there’s more time to get Sheffield Wednesday into the playoffs than see a public transport project that makes any difference to us in the North. Or the Midlands for that matter.
As the BBC reported, “the funding has been earmarked for spending between 2025 and 2032, after the next spending review that sets departmental spending”. And also, after they have lost the next general election.
Murison reminded us that Sunak’s promise of reallocating money from the canceled HS2 project is not what was promised to the North ten years ago. Back then when the government launched its transport plans for the North they claimed:
“Our shared aim is to transform Northern growth, rebalance the country’s economy and establish the North as a global powerhouse.”
Since then, we have seen precious little. Although, in fairness to the government, there was the news just before Christmas that £235mn of London pothole money was being made possible due to the scrapping of HS2.
As shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, said recently:
“Is there anything more emblematic of 13 years of dismal failure by this broken government than their flagship levelling up project that fails to even reach the north?”
Empty gestures lead nowhere
The Cabinet can come to Yorkshire. Or the East Midlands. Or the Outer Hebrides. They have lost all claims to be able to govern, and any policy pronouncement is met by shrieks of laughter. Or, worse, ignored. The thing is the public just don’t believe them anymore.
Perhaps they should just do the right thing – stop prevaricating and call a general election.
