Tories mocked after boasting of £235million Network North road plan - in London

20 December 2023 , 13:21

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Andy Burnham accused the Tories of excluding the North itself from the Network North scheme (Image: Getty Images)

The Tories have been mocked after boasting of a multimillion-pound investment in London road improvements as part of its "Network North" scheme.

Northern Mayors hit back after the Department for Transport (DfT) announced £235million has been committed to improving roads in the capital. The department's social media post came alongside the "Network North" logo in the corner. The DfT said the road improvements were "only possible due to £8.3billion of extra investment" available from the decision to kill off the northern leg of HS2.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “'Network North' seems to include everywhere - except the North." West Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said: "I know the North isn’t a priority for this govt but seriously…???" The Mayor of Liverpool City Regions Steve Rotheram added simply: "Make it make sense".

The Department for Transport received a huge backlash on social media after posting the announcement

Rishi Sunak announced the Network North project after he scrapped the northern leg of HS2 (PRU/AFP via Getty Images)

Shadow Secretary of State for Transport Louise Haigh said “Whilst passengers are facing Christmas chaos on overcrowded, delayed and cancelled trains, it is an extra kick in the teeth that this Government is crowing about cancelling the biggest rail infrastructure investment in the north in a generation. When Rishi Sunak went to Manchester to cancel the northern leg of HS2 he claimed he would ‘join up our great towns and cities in the North and the Midlands’.

"Now he is promising to repair roads in London as part of a 'Network North', showing just how ludicrously out of touch he is. And this won’t even come close to repairing the damage Rishi Sunak has done to our roads: In the three years since he became Chancellor he has been personally responsible for 22 million potholes going unfilled across the country.”

Out of touch Rishi Sunak doesn't regularly read papers or online news sites

Meanwhile Labour MP Dame Angela Eagle quoted the graphic on social media and said: "Apparently the rules of geography & the compass have now been suspended by this post truth post reality Government." Labour MP Diana Johnson said: "‘Levelling up’ the North by moving cancelled Northern HS2 investment to… London. They’re having a laugh - at the North’s expense." Lib Dem MP Tim Farron added: "Great to see the rural northern village of London finally getting the levelling up funding it deserves..."

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It comes just months after Rishi Sunak was accused of betraying northern cities over the controversial decision to axe the northern leg of the HS2 project. The PM - speaking at the Tory conference in Manchester - announced he was scrapping the high speed rail line from Birmingham to the North and instead vowed to reinvest the £36billion into other transport projects in the North and the Midlands under a rebranded Network North. The move led to widespread criticism from northern leaders, including Mr Burnham who fumed that northerners were being treated like "second-class citizens".

At the time the ex-PM David Cameron - now Foreign Secretary - also hit out at the move, branding it the "wrong decision" and evidence the country was "heading in the wrong direction". In a brutal swipe at the government he now serves in, Lord Cameron said: "I regret this decision and in years to come I suspect many will look back at today’s announcement and wonder how this once-in-a-generation opportunity was lost." Boris Johnson - another former Tory PM - added in an article at the time: "If we delay or cut the northern legs, if we truncate HS2 — then we are betraying the north of the country and the whole agenda of levelling up."

Unveiling Network North in October, which included plans for money to upgrade roads in southern England, the PM said he was scrapping HS2 for the new scheme Network North to deliver to areas across the country. In a foreword to the document, Mr Sunak said: "Outside London, our great cities and our smaller towns are not achieving their potential because their transport networks are so poor.... Outside London, many rely on cars, yet our local roads are congested and poorly maintained." He also complained that HS2 was set to benefit London and said he was scrapping it for the new scheme Network North to deliver to areas across the country.

Transport Secretary Mark Harper said: "Every penny of the £19.8billion committed to the Northern leg of HS2 will be reinvested in the North. Every penny of the £9.6billion committed to the Midlands leg will be reinvested in the Midlands."

Sophie Huskisson