Rather than delivering long-term investment in transport, the Government think they can fool the North with a short-term political con

Chancellor George Osborne and the Transport Secretary, Patrick McLoughlin, made an official state visit to the North of England yesterday. They decided to grace us with their presence to announce what they are modestly claiming as their “revolutionary plans for northern transport”.  But, far from a revolution, on closer inspection, it just looks like more re-announcements, reviews and (frankly rather desperate) rhetoric.

There is no doubt that the North of England needs significant investment in new transport infrastructure and modernisation. But instead of the billions that we have been led to believe is at the heart of the Government’s so-called announcements yesterday, when you actually look at the report that the Government published, it is clear their plans are a complete con.

The reality is the Tories and Lib Dems are pretending to offer billions of pounds for investment, but all they have really committed to this week is a ‘study’ costing £12.5 million. Apart from the projects that had been announced months ago, all the other schemes in the report are unfunded and just for consideration.

Ministers will be judged not on what they promise to deliver many years from now, but on what they have actually delivered over the last five years in government. And the Government’s record in the North of England is one of utter failure.

The truth is the Tories and Lib Dems have taken most money away from the communities that can least afford it, cutting spending power for every household in the ten most deprived areas in England by 16 times as much as the ten least deprived.

They have disproportionally hit councils in the North with bigger cuts, with local authorities having to make cuts amounting to £160 a head more than their counterparts in the South East. Liverpool city council, for example, has the highest deprivation score (which includes income, health, barriers to housing and living environment) of 43.45, but has suffered cuts of 27.1 per cent. Whereas Hart District Council in Hampshire, which has the lowest deprivation score of 4.47, has only faced cuts of 1.5 per cent.

They have also implemented massive disparities between spending in London and northern regions.  For example, London gets 24 times as much spent on infrastructure per resident than the North-East. In Yorkshire and the Humber, the Government currently plan to spend just 12 per cent of what they will spend per person in London. And in the North West, the Government currently plan to spend just 14.8 per cent of what they will spend per person in London. Overall, the gap in planned infrastructure investment between and North and South is nearly £2,000 per person.

They have cancelled transport projects, then announced new schemes just before the election. And they have missed infrastructure deadlines time and again. For example, in Yorkshire, only six of the Government’s 16 biggest promised transport projects will be completed by the time of the election.

They have stood by while rail passengers in the North have seen inflation-busting fare rises of up to 162 per cent since 2010, which has just added insult to injury to those who still have to travel on the decrepit Pacer trains.

Equally, they have presided over massive cuts to bus services across the North. In Yorkshire alone, there are now over 4 million fewer bus miles than in 2010, whilst they have allowed the bus operators to increase fares by an average 25 per cent since 2010 – that’s five times faster than the average growth in wages.

Time and time again, the North has been let down by the Tories and the Lib Dems and no one is going to believe a word they say about potential spending many years from now.

Of course, council leaders are right to argue for more investment and for better connectivity across the North, through, for example, the introduction of simpler fares, better integration and smart ticketing. These things would not only improve passenger experience, but boost the local economy. But they know they can’t count on this Government to deliver what is needed.

The truth is Labour has a better plan and a bigger offer for the North.  We will establish an independent National Infrastructure Commission to set out the long-term infrastructure projects that the country needs, including in the North. And we will deliver the biggest devolution of economic power and funding to England’s city and county regions for generations – £30 billion over five years – including transport, housing, fairer funding, business support, employment and adult skills.

Under Labour, local areas will be in the driving seat on key decisions affecting their local economies – with new powers over back-to-work schemes, to drive house building, and to integrate, invest in and plan transport infrastructure. We will also let city and county regions keep all the additional business rates revenue generated by growth.

Labour’s radical plans go much further than anything David Cameron, George Osborne or Nick Clegg are offering. And, unlike the Tories, we won’t short-change areas which choose not to have an elected Mayor by giving them a second-class deal. Every part of England will benefit from Labour’s plans, not just a chosen few.

We all know that yesterday was all about politics for Osborne and co. The Tories (and the Lib Dems) know they are toast in the North. As the Mayor of Liverpool, Joe Anderson, said yesterday: “It has taken this Government five years to realise the damage they have done by ignoring the North and now they are desperate to look like they care.” No one in the North will buy it.