The prime minister has defended his plans for investment in a Network North rail scheme.
Ministers have come under fire after publishing the “Network North” plans, which would be built with the £36bn saved from scrapping the northern leg of HS2 between Birmingham and Manchester. The detailed list, since deleted, included more than 100 regional transport projects, including schemes that had already been completed or were already funded – and schemes that were outside the region.
Rishi Sunak has insisted that the projects he claimed to be funding were “only illustrative” and designed “to give people a sense of things that people have asked for in that area”.
Sunak has also committed to starting the process of selling land that HS2 Ltd, the government-owned company responsible for delivering the project, had purchased back to private buyers.
Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has called on the government to pause the sell-off of HS2 land to give local leaders a chance to put together an alternative plan.
