Sunak kills the Northern Powerhouse.

Been reading all the comments in the media etc.

So I reckon that Sunak, had he made a good speech, might have clawed back some support, but he didn’t.

It was devoid of all the things that matter. It was simply a list of stuff that Sunak has hit upon that he personally has an issue with.

Nothing about

Housing

Social Care

Energy

The Environment - like the state of our rivers and sea.

All things that people care about.

Sunak has just lost the Tories the election.

Louella12

Gosh. So much negativity! It's almost as if those who dislike this government are running scared 😱

And no, I'm not a fan either, but all this protesting is amusing

Ok. Throw me something positive then….

Gosh. So much negativity! It's almost as if those who dislike this government are running scared 😱

And no, I'm not a fan either, but all this protesting is amusing

Ian Dale asked Gina Miller on LBC Cross Question how we can hold someone or someones responsible. Interestingly answer.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xMhQDcESws

CoolCoco

I think it was cringy having his wife give a speech about her husband. Who elected her?

utterly unnecessary

I think it was cringy having his wife give a speech about her husband. Who elected her?

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202310/medium-877550-img-0350.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202310/medium-576186-img-0349.jpeg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202310/medium-190070-img-0342.jpeg

There’s a Guardian article 25th January 2020 headlined ‘Revealed the 12 billion pound bill for scrapping high speed rail link’. I can’t copy it but I’ve taken photos of it….

Does anyone really believe Rishi's promises today? Really? Once cancellation fee's are finalised and the other costs to wind-down the HS2 project are paid, there won't be a lot left. Plus, setting up new projects take time and money, neither of which it would appear Rishi has - after all we are only a year away from a GE.

He can promise whatever he likes now and blame whoever is in power for non delivery.

I don't know how these people sleep at nights, i truly don't.

Grantanow

Oreo

I listened to what Sunak had to say about HS2 today and what money would be used for instead in helping northern places.
I think I’ve changed my mind about HS2 now as long as the money’s spent well connecting northern towns and cities, also improved buses in rural areas.HS2 shouldn’t even have been started, the money could have been better spent locally from the start.They have to start doing things really soon tho or nobody will believe it’ll ever happen.

Of course it should never have been started but whom do we have to thank for that? Partygate Johnson. He of the Garden Bridge, the airport on the Thames estuary and the bridge or tunnel to Northern Ireland.

Just to keep the facts straight this amazing idea:

... was investigated by the Labour government in January 2009, during Gordan Brown's tenure in Number Ten. A consultation on a route from Birmingham to London, extending to Manchester and Leeds, was subsequently published in 2010.

So it started well but THEN Johnson wanted to play and find a new toy.

He’s looked for the article but can’t find it. He often tells me what he’s read early in the day but later in the day they’ll change the articles or update them. I asked him if he’s sure the figure was 10.6 billion and he is.

Cabowich

One has to ask, though, what on earth would the other parties do about it if they were given the chance?

If Maybee’s husband is correct that it will cost
£10.6 billion for the government to pay the cancellation fees Urmstongran the next government isn’t going to have the luxury of an option to reinstate the original plan I don’t think.

Stop it you two, GrannyGravy - that image now fixed in my mind .

Urmstongran

Nice try Mr. Sunak.
Once you have seen one Thatcher tribute act you've seen them all.

I now have a vision of Rishi in a wig, wearing a blue skirt suit carrying a handbag 🤣

Urmston 😏👏
I find it difficult to take him seriously- we need change and I’m it - get over yourself rishi

I loathe Suella but she did a barnstormer - I disagreed with every word but she looked like a future leader
Heaven save us all

One has to ask, though, what on earth would the other parties do about it if they were given the chance?

Nice try Mr. Sunak.
Once you have seen one Thatcher tribute act you've seen them all.

DAR at 18.35 👍🏻

I don’t know how he has the brass neck to stand there spouting promises we know won’t be kept

Sunak has never been invested in the U.K. since he became PM. He has always intended to become a US citizen and will be gone in the blink of an eye

Oreo

The point is, that this could well be a better outcome for those regions than ever HS2 would have been.Let’s hope so.

I'm afraid not. What the Northern Powerhouse Independent Economic Review showed is that you could get significantly over £100 billion of economic benefit from delivering HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail, every year from 2050.

This would have paid back the cost of the integrated Rail Plan, those lines East to West and finishing HS2; the combined network. Every year we would get the benefit on what had been spent. The first year basically pays for it and every year after that is bonus.

I really don't think Sunak's not yet planned ideas will come close. This is a disaster for the North and no doubt for the Midlands as well. This will shrink the size of the Northern economy.

At the moment people in the North of England earn £8,000, on average, less than in London and the South East, that will now continue.

There are no new plans. What he has "promised" was already included. There is no "levelling up".

This speech is a speech for opposition. There are no plans for any of it, just promises. In opposition he can say to each move forward by Labour "... is that all? But we promised x, y and z!"

And then he will disappear off to the states.

Source: Henri Murison, Chief Executive of Northern Powerhouse Partnership.

I would hope he spends this money saved on growth we are likely to see in the next 5 yrs, more likely he will spend it to shore up Tory votes in marginal areas.
The blight on property will remain for many years.

Casdon

Oreo

The point is, that this could well be a better outcome for those regions than ever HS2 would have been.Let’s hope so.

So what you’re saying is that the government has been running an ill conceived scheme for over 10 years, and hadn’t done their homework to identify it as the best solution before work started in 2017? Oh dear.

I think many people have realised this for a long time Casdon, especially post Covid when there is even less need for people to be travelling up and down the country and so much is done via Zoom etc. It can't have been an easy decision, but it was a brave and correct one.

Oreo

The point is, that this could well be a better outcome for those regions than ever HS2 would have been.Let’s hope so.

So what you’re saying is that the government has been running an ill conceived scheme for over 10 years, and hadn’t done their homework to identify it as the best solution before work started in 2017? Oh dear.

Well I'm pretty delighted! I live in the NW and nobody I know wanted the HS2 - a complete irrelevance. When I was working I used to travel all over the country by train. Getting to London was never a problem, it was getting over to the east - Hull, Leeds, Sheffield, that was the nightmare. I've always said that this is where the money should be spent. However, as MayBe70 points out, I'm sure there are going to be a lot of costs that Sunak hasn't mentioned that will need accounting for in cancelling such a big project.
Also pleased that he committed to keeping the £2 bus fares, which seldom get mentioned but make a big difference to a lot of people in my community.

The point is, that this could well be a better outcome for those regions than ever HS2 would have been.Let’s hope so.

I did actually know that Grantanow 😄