Cornish wires
Electrification of the railway from London to Cornwall joins rail renationalisation as key Labour pledge.
LABOUR has again announced it will renationalise the railways, should it win the next General Election.
The party will also electrify the railway from Cornwall to London, and build Crossrail for the north.
These were some of the pledges made by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell at the party conference in Brighton on September 25. He told delegates that each policy in its manifesto is based upon the party’s Fiscal Credibility Rule, and that the party is preparing detailed implementation plans.
“To pay for our public services, we will close the tax loopholes and avoidance scams used by the mega-rich, and we will make sure the rich and the giant corporations pay their way,” he said.
As part his speech, McDonnell added: “This Tory Government plans to invest in the north just one-fifth of what it will spend on transport per head in London.”
He continued by saying that Labour would build Crossrail for the north, although he didn’t mention a route - only that it would connect “our great northern cities from west coast to east”.
Labour would also fund the Midlands Connect Partnership designed to overhaul transport in the region and drive economic growth, he said. And HS2 would be extended to Scotland.
Regarding Cornwall electrification, he said: “We’ll overturn decades of neglect and lack of investment in the South West. We’ll electrify railway lines from Cornwall right through to London.” Currently the overhead line electrification is supposed to reach Newbury on the Berks & Hants route, and Bristol Temple Meads.
On nationalisation, McDonnell said: “Building an economy for the many also means bringing ownership and control of the utilities and key services into the hands of people who use and work in them. Rail, water, energy, Royal Mail - we’re taking them back.”