‘It’s time we got fair share’ fumes mayor
ANDY Burnham has criticised the ‘London view of life’ following allegations that the future of the Northern Powerhouse is in jeopardy due to the ‘unsustainable’ cost of railways.
Current affairs programme Dispatches claims that even as a bid for £70bn for the transport upgrades at the core of the project is prepared, a meeting agenda obtained under the Freedom of Information act reveals that the Secretary of State for Transport and rail bosses had a discussion under the topic ‘the cost of railways is becoming unsustainable.’
Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham told Dispatches reporter Michael Buerk: “It does worry me and I don’t think the Department of Transport are behind us, they never really have been in the north of England.
“The real problem is in our country with a centralised political system in Westminster, the London view of life dominates. It dominates all the decisions. It’s about time we got our fair share.”
He said that if a choice had to be made between funding projects in the south and in the north, ‘if there aren’t two cheques lying around the Treasury and only one scheme can go forward, then I say clearly it has to be the north of England that comes first and this time it comes before London.’
Responding to Dispatches, a spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: “We are carrying out the biggest investment in transport in the region for a generation, investing billions of pounds across the north of England to better connect communities, build the Northern Powerhouse and deliver improved journeys for passengers right across the region.”