Council leaders from five Northern Cities including Manchester are pressing the government to reaffirm their commitment to the Northern Powerhouse.
They have agreed to convene a summit for northern political and business leaders in late August, ahead of the return of Parliament.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham and Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese joined representatives from Liverpool City-Region, Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle yesterday where they discussed recent Government statements about transport infrastructure investment.
They released the following statement
Recent statements by the Secretary of State for Transport were unexpected and have caused confusion and concern.
They have created considerable uncertainty about Government promises already given for developments on the Trans-Pennine services.
Yesterday, further statements have raised fears over the Government’s commitment to Northern Powerhouse Rail, the future of the Northern Powerhouse itself, and indeed the government’s stated aim of rebalancing the U.K. economy.
If the Government can’t be trusted to stick to promises already given, then it is hard to have confidence that they will deliver longer term agreements made to the North.
The Government urgently needs to clarify its position on both short-term and long-term commitments to the North and confirm if it remains committed to the Northern Powerhouse and Transport for the North.
To develop our shared approach to these crucial issues we agreed to convene a summit for northern political and business leaders in late August, ahead of the return of Parliament.
We call on the Government to return to working constructively with us to correct long-term imbalances in transport funding and to give the people of the North the rail services they deserve and have been promised.
