MP claims ‘government failure’ robbed city of £30bn worth of growth

Labour MP Naz Shah confronted Prime Minister Boris Johnson during yesterday’s Prime Minister’s Questions, claiming that “government failure had robbed Bradford of £30bn worth of growth” over the next decade.

The MP for Bradford West highlighted there had been “no detailed analysis of the long term economic benefits of investing in Bradford and the North through the Integrated Rail Plan (IRP)”.

Shah asked when the Prime Minister was “going to match action to rhetoric on Levelling Up and give Bradford the investment it deserves.”

Johnson’s reply noted that his government is “investing massively in Yorkshire” but also appeared to cause confusion.

The Prime Minister explained said: “She’s misunderstood what we said at the time of the £96bn Integrated Rail Plan. Because what we are saying is we will look at ways in which we can ensure that we protract the eastern leg of [HS2] from north of Birmingham on the eastern leg to Bradford.”

This statement caused confusion, with Bradford never mentioned as a destination for HS2 but overlooked in November’s IRP as a destination for the proposed Northern Powerhouse Rail link connecting the North’s east and west economies.

MPs were quick to highlight the error with Sheffield Heeley MP and shadow Secretary of State for Transport, Louise Haigh accusing Johnson of confusing Bradford and Leeds on Twitter.

Shah also commented on the social media platform stating: “So the PM gets Bradford and Leeds confused at #PMQs”.

Haigh also said: “It is little wonder the Tories have sold the north short on rail when they can’t tell the difference between two of our major cities.

“Northern cities like Bradford built this country and they are being held back by a Government which cannot and will not deliver for our communities.”

The slip by Johnson comes just a day after it was revealed that the North’s Metro Mayors had written to the government asking for a rethink of rail plans. The letter called for both the IRP and the rail plan put forward by Northern leaders to be assessed in order tosee which would achieve the greater impact in ministers’ central mission – levelling up the country.

A spokesperson for the Department of Transport issued a statement last night, aiming to clarify the situation, but started by highlighting the investment into Bradford as part of IRP: “We will be electrifying the line between Bradford and Leeds, making services more reliable and eight minutes faster than they are now.”

The statement continued: “£100m has been allocated to look specifically at the most effective way to run HS2 trains to Leeds. This includes understanding the best solution for Leeds station capacity, starting work on the new West Yorkshire Mass Transit System and we will look at services and opportunities in the surrounding area, including Bradford.”

In November when the IRP was published Yorkshire were fiercely critical of the decisions around HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, with the Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin calling the decision a “betrayal”.

Since then the Government has published its Levelling Up White Paper last week which promised that “local public transport connectivity across the country will be significantly closer to the standards of London, with improved services, simpler fares and integrated ticketing”.

Shah’s view on matching action to rhetoric will be explored further at Invest North 2022 which on 2 March will bring together business and political leaders to look at how real economic growth can be delivered across the North, for the benefit of the businesses and people who live and work in the region

Curated by TheBusinessDesk.com and its headline sponsor Squire Patton Boggs, and supported by Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund, TransPennine Express, Mott Macdonald, Campaigner, Influential and becg; sessions will consider whether the future for inward investment is a collegiate Northern Powerhouse or city focus brands, the story and vision for the North, and how key sectors are helping create thousands of jobs in the region while shaping millions of lives globally.

Book your tickets now to receive the special early bird price.

In addition to the packed one day conference, Invest North 2022 will also include a networking dinner on 3 March at the Radisson Edwardian in Manchester, where attendees will swap pixels for plates continue and develop the conversations from the conference and share views on the opportunities, challenges and even next steps for the North as the region continues to forge ahead a new destiny in the wake of challenges. Tickets for the networking dinner are available now and include a drink on arrive and a three course dinner.