Andy Burnham has suggested the UK “is not a country of equals” to the Conservative government and “run more for some places than it is for others” – as speculation intensifies over whether it will scrap HS2.
Speaking at the Greater Manchester Green Summit in Salford, he said the government’s recent rollbacks on green policies were “the wrong call”.
The Greater Manchester mayor described them as “grubby decisions playing into quite a divisive politics”, as debates over ULEZ, petrol cars, and the drive for net zero continue.
While the Conservative party conference stays quiet on what decision will be made on HS2, Burnham continued to cast it as a major test of the levelling-up agenda.
He said: “It feels wrong that they’re in hotel rooms just a couple of miles from where we’re standing, discussing these things that will have massive implications for people in the North for the rest of this century. And yet, we’re not even invited in at all.
“The powers that be, and particularly Whitehall, feel they can treat people here as second-class citizens when it comes to transport. They spent tens of millions of pounds tunnelling HS2 under the Chilterns for zero economic benefit, yet they won’t spend here to create jobs and growth.
“Their priorities are all wrong.
“This is not a country of equals to them – some places are more important than others. It’s the way things have always been to a degree, but the railways really bring it out. They really illustrate a country that’s run more for some places than it is for others.
“It is very disrespectful to people here and across the north.”
In recent days some Tories have striven to shift public attention onto greater connections between the east and west, but Burnham said: “These are indivisible. The core of HS2 in Greater Manchester is the same as Northern Powerhouse Rail, so the infrastructure would be the same.
“If you don’t build that here, then you’re building neither HS2 nor Northern Powerhouse Rail.”
The ongoing saga, he added, showed “disrespect of the North of England” as a decision is awaited on “the plug being pulled on, or maybe pulled, on critical investment.”
He continued: “I don’t see why the North should be forced to choose either between north-south, or east-west. London wasn’t forced to choose between the Elizabeth line or HS2, so why should we?”
After visiting the Conservative Party Conference earlier today, he described his opposition’s mood as “uncertain… it didn’t feel as though there was any sense of clarity or optimism.
“The conference is running under the slogan, ‘Long term decisions for a brighter future.’ I just see short term reactions to create an uncertain future.”
Feature image: Unsplash.
