Former Chancellor George Osborne has called on Theresa May to commit to plans to build new high-speed rail links across the north of England.
Chairman of the Northen Powerhouse Partnership, Osborne said that the Prime Minister must back the “northern powerhouse” to allow the rest of the country to grow at the same rate of London.
London is a “fantastic city, but [the UK] can’t just be a one-trick pony as a country, and cities like Manchester, Newcastle, Leeds, Liverpool, Hull, they need to be allowed to grow and become stronger,” said Osborne on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
“In the end, the transport links between them are absolutely central and building these high-speed lines would enable people to commute, and enable businesses to attract more talent and bring investment to the north.”
Over 70,000 people have signed a petition to back the northern rail improvements as well as to give transport authorities in the north of England the same powers they have in the capital.
Writing for the Financial Times he said, regarding the Liverpool and Hull high speed rail: “Far be it from me to offer advice to the prime minister on how to relaunch her premiership this autumn, but making this big commitment to the north at the Conservative conference in Manchester would not be a bad place to start,”
Whilst the Prime Minister has said she is committed to backing the HS2 north-south railway, she has not shown the same backing for the HS3.
“The issue is there are a number of options that are being looked at in relation to HS3 or northern powerhouse rail. But what I would say is those big projects are not the only way in which we are looking to invest in transport in the region,” she said in April.