'PM's rail pledges as fake as the 40 new hospitals promised by Boris Johnson'

05 October 2023 , 21:22

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Rishi Sunak announced that £36billion in HS2 savings would be used for infrastructure projects (Image: Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

Sly speed railway...

To compensate for axing the Manchester leg of HS2, Rishi Sunak announced the £36billion savings would be used to fund local infrastructure projects.

It has now emerged that many of these schemes are no more likely to be built than the 40 new hospitals promised by Boris Johnson. The Tory pledge to reopen the Leamside Line lasted hours, with an admission ministers are only committed to “looking at it”.

The PM’s claim HS2 will run to Euston in Central London fell apart when it was revealed this was dependant on raising private funding. The prospect of a metro system for Leeds remains at the planning stage, while promised road upgrades have been delayed until 2030.

To rub salt in the wound, much of the money originally set for the North is being diverted to Tory areas in the South. Mr Sunak vowed to do things differently, but he is just as untrustworthy as his Conservative predecessors. No wonder Britain is on the road to nowhere under the Tories.

Filling the void

If Labour wins the election it will inherit an in-tray overflowing with problems. They include a broken economy, record NHS waiting lists and crumbling schools. In the first of a series of policy announcements, Keir Starmer yesterday pledged to tackle the backlog in NHS dentistry.

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Labour’s scheme would pay for an extra 700,000 urgent appointments. The party leader is set to unveil more eye-catching proposals at Labour’s conference as he explains how he will rebuild a country battered by 13 years of Tory mismanagement. Fixing NHS dentistry is not the only policy that will put a smile on voters’ faces.

Doing us proud

The Mirror’s Pride of Britain Awards recognise the best of this country. And they don’t come much better than Rob Burrow, his wife Lindsey and pal Kevin Sinfield. They are the pride of Britain, and Britain could not be more proud of them.

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