Last week I joined business leaders and politicians at a transport summit in Leeds.
It was called by Greater Manchester Mayor and former Leigh MP Andy Burnham to look at some of the challenges facing the North’s transport infrastructure and to form a platform for cross-party work on this issue.
The North’s transport system is far from perfect – you only have to get the train from Atherton in the morning to see the over-flowing carriages and Leigh, of course, doesn’t even have a railway station of its own. But it is important to point out that we are currently in the middle of the biggest modernisation of our railways since the Victorian era. Change is coming – and sooner than you think.
Started under the Coalition government, we should soon start to see the fruits of a £1 billion+ investment, including new carriages and faster and more efficient trains. The Preston to Manchester line is in the process of being electrified – something that should have been done years ago – and we are seeing improvements elsewhere. At the moment it seems like you can’t go anywhere without seeing people in high viz jackets working on our roads and railways and although this sometimes comes with frustrating delays, it’s a sign that the government is investing in the north and making much-needed improvements to our infrastructure.
Mr Burnham opened last week’s summit with an apology. He pointed out that he worked in Labour’s Treasury when they were in power and brought together the funding package for London’s £15 billion Crossrail 1 project. Despite his position of power and being a Northern MP, he didn’t put his money where his mouth was and even fund the most basic of rail improvements.
You only have to look at the numbers to see just how Labour neglected the north during their years in power: we have electrified nearly three times as many miles of railway in Greater Manchester alone in the past seven years as the Labour government Mr Burnham was part of did across the whole of the country during their thirteen years in office.
That’s why some of Mr Burnham’s statements have been difficult to stomach for some commuters these past few weeks. Yes we want to see improvements and investment, but he had the chance to rectify the North/South transport divide years ago and yet didn’t. The Coalition government and then the Conservative government that followed have written the cheques and there is a lot going on behind the scenes at the moment.
I will continue to fight for more investment in our transport system here in the North, not just repeat meaningless political rhetoric. I’ll also challenge the government when they get it wrong – which is why I’ve been speaking with Ministers throughout the summer to make sure plans are on track for HS3 (a huge new coast to coast rail link stretching from Liverpool to Hull) and the electrification project. I am convinced that they are listening and that there will no deviation from the government’s plans to build a Northern Powerhouse.
It is fantastic that the North is getting organised but we need to make sure that this is a truly cross-party platform that is able to bring about meaningful change – not just become a talking shop for Labour politicians to complain about things they could have sorted out themselves.
Speaking of railways, Labour have come up with an innovative solution to tackling an apparent rise in sexual assault on trains. Taking a leaf out of Iran’s book, Labour MP Chris Williamson has proposed women only carriages. Rather than taking action perpetrators of sexual assaults, this would simply normalise such behaviour. Women have a right to sit wherever they want – not put up with the sort of segregation you would expect more from a country that doesn’t share British values.
After Naz Shah liked and retweeted – by accident, she says – a message last week telling raped children that they should keep quiet for the sake of diversity, many people may be left wondering exactly where Labour’s priorities lie at the moment. It certainly doesn’t seem that it is with children and women.