The transport secretary has been accused of an “abdication of responsibility” after telling the north of England to sort out its own transport problems.
Chris Grayling angered business and political leaders in the region by writing an article for the Yorkshire Post saying “the success of northern transport depends on the north itself”.
Last month he caused widespread frustration by indicating his support for Crossrail 2, another £30bn rail line in London, days after quietly announcing he was breaking a manifesto promise and scrapping electrification schemes across the north and beyond.
At a transport summit in Leeds on Wednesday, Steve Rotheram, the mayor of the Liverpool city region, said the Post article represented an abdication of responsibility. He said Grayling’s remarks were acting as a catalyst for politicians and businesspeople from the north “to speak with one voice”.
Judith Dore, the leader of Sheffield city council, described Grayling’s remarks as “ill-advised and ill-informed”, claiming the leaders of northern cities had been working together for six or seven years. “To get a very senior government minister coming out with some sort of defensive, adversarial comment just quite clearly shows his particular contempt for the north of England,” she said.
Nick Forbes, Newcastle’s leader, advised against “Grayling-bashing” but alleged he was the secretary of state who had blocked Transport for the North (TfN), a new pan-northern body tasked with delivering transport infrastructure, from having franchising powers. “It’s a bit rich of the secretary of state to say it’s all our responsibility but not actually give us the resources to do it. Passing the buck without passing the books is not really an answer from central government.”
The Leeds council leader, Judith Blake, issued a challenge to Grayling, saying: “We are very happy to take on this agenda. Give us real devolution, give us the powers, the resource and the ability to do things ourselves and we are very happy to step up to the plate.”
But Blake said people in the region were “quite insulted” by Grayling. “You cannot imagine him saying that to any other part of the country, particularly the south-east.”
At the meeting in Leeds, business and political leaders agreed that improving transport infrastructure was essential for closing the productivity gap between the north and south.
Afterwards, they put out a group statement telling the government: “A successful north means more jobs, a stronger tax base, better inward investment opportunities and greater success for business for the whole of the UK. But none of this will be realised unless there is substantial new investment in modern infrastructure linking the great cities of the north.
“Recent statements by the transport secretary have sent worrying messages that this essential investment may not be delivered in full, with some key commitments dropped or substantially delayed. We believe that people across the north have waited long enough for transport services on a par with other parts of the country. The disparity between transport in the north of England and London must now be addressed.”
In his Post article, Grayling said one of his “biggest priorities” was to build transport links in the north, but it was down to the region to design and manage them.
He wrote: “It is central government’s responsibility to provide funding and a delivery structure that ensures efficiency, value for money and accountability. But, beyond this, I want the north to take control.”
Within hours of Grayling’s op-ed going live, Theresa May rushed to reassure the region that she did care about it, telling the Financial Times that while she recognised further progress must be made, her government was committed to “northern powerhouse rail” – one of many different names for a fast trans-Pennine rail link.
