Rishi Sunak has pledged scores of new road schemes and to resurface roads across the country, funded from what he said was £36bn saved by cancelling HS2 north of Birmingham.
In his speech at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, the prime minister confirmed that he was cancelling ‘the rest of the HS2 project’.
He later clarified that it would go all the way to Euston in line with the initial plan, albeit with the scheme removed from HS2 Ltd.
Pledging that ‘every single penny’ of the £36bn saved would be spent on transport projects, he listed a raft of new rail and road projects and the continuation of the £2 cap on bus fares.
However, Mr Sunak gave little detail and it is not clear how many of the schemes would have been taken forward anyway.
He said the Government would:
- fund the Shipley bypass and the Blyth relief road
- upgrade the A1, the A2, the A5, the M6
- ‘connect our Union’ with the A75 boosting links between Scotland and Northern Ireland
- deliver 70 other road schemes
- resurface roads across the country
No 10 subsequently announced that money for the North of England would include a new £3.3bn fund for road resurfacing and ‘landmark investments in roads’, while the Midlands would see the development of road schemes to benefit businesses and their employees at Rolls Royce, Toyota, and Magna Park.
Cash spent elsewhere in the country would include ‘ensuring the delivery of road schemes’, No 10 said.
Sunak promised to upgrade the A1, A2, A5 and M6.
— Louise Haigh (@LouHaigh) October 4, 2023
Yet all of these projects were:
1) Already announced
2) Were delayed by up to five years only six months ago by none other than....
*Rishi Sunak*
Labour’s shadow transport secretary, Louise Haigh, pointed out that upgrades to the A1, A2, A5 and M6 had previously been announced, but ministers said in March that they would be delayed for up to five years.
AA president Edmund King said the motoring organisation supported the pledge to spend more on roads and looks forward to seeing the full plans and details.
He said: ‘Cars and road transport are vital to how we live and work. Government figures show 58% of trips and 78% of distance travelled are made with cars, with more than 80% of freight being transported by road and indeed the most popular form of public transport, busses, use the roads.
‘All modes of transport are important in the UK with public transport playing a major role particularly in our towns and cities. An efficient road network though is vital for the economy and environment. Congestion costs businesses billions of pounds and is detrimental to air quality and CO2 emissions.’
Away from the roads sector, Mr Sunak said the Government would:
- ‘protect’ the £12bn to link up Manchester and Liverpool ‘as planned’
- build the Midlands Rail Hub, connecting 50 stations
- help Andy Street extend the West Midlands Metro
- build the Leeds tram,
- electrify the North Wales main line
- connect our Union with the A75 boosting links between Scotland and Northern Ireland
- bring back the Don Valley line
- upgrade the energy coast line between Carlisle, Workington and Barrow
- build hundreds of other schemes
