Treasury Questions today gave me another opportunity to ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer to support the Transport for the North’s strategic transport plan, which calls for a 50 per cent increase in regional infrastructure spending across the north of England. Yet more data has emerged this week which shows that London spent £33.3 billion on transport in the last five years compared to just £8.5 billion in Yorkshire and The Humber. So, for every £100 spent on transport per Londoner last year, only £35 was spent on transport for each person living in Yorkshire and The Humber. I have been campaigning for more investment for the North since I was elected to Parliament in 2015 and so welcomed the Chancellor’s response.
Philip Hammond confirmed that the Government is committed to the Northern Powerhouse project and said that it recognises that it has to be supported through infrastructure investment. I shall continue to do everything I can to keep the pressure up until we get the investment we need.
Watch my question here.
Read the House of Commons Library report, Transport Spending by Region, here.
Source: Transport Spending by Region, House of Commons Library, 16 February 2018.