Boris Johnson has been slammed after claiming the Government's cut-price rail plan will deliver for the North.
The downgraded Northern Powerhouse Rail plan, adopted by Grant Shapps last year, cut the requested investment by roughly half and replaced much of the new track originally requested with upgrades to existing routes.
Yet despite this, the Prime Minister claimed on Wednesday afternoon that he was "gonna build Northern Powerhouse Rail", prompting fury from MPs and think tanks.
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Mr Johnson, speaking at PMQs, said: "This is a Government that loves the railways, that invests in the railways, £96bn we're putting into the integrated railway plan and we're gonna build Northern Powerhouse Rail."
Northern Powerhouse Partnership director Henri Murison said: "NPR only as far as Marsden and not via Bradford to Leeds is not what was promised eight years ago." Labour frontbencher Jonathan Reynolds added: "You simply cannot believe a word he says."
Earlier in the question session Mr Johnson faced a grilling over the industrial action on the railways currently crippling the country.
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said: “The Prime Minister of this country and his Transport Secretary haven’t attended a single meeting, held a conversation or lifted a finger to stop these strikes.
“But I did note that on Monday they did find time to go to a lavish ball where the Prime Minister sold a meeting with himself for £120,000. So rather than blame everyone else why doesn’t he do his job, get round the table and get the trains running?”
Mr Johnson replied: “We are making sure that we do everything we can to prevent these strikes. He knows it is up to the railway companies to negotiate, that is their job. We’ve spent £16bn looking after the railways throughout the pandemic, that’s cost every household £600.
He added: “We know why he won’t condemn the strikes, we know why even now he hasn’t got the gumption to call out his MPs for going out to support the pickets. The reason his authority is on the line in this matter is that they take £10m, that’s the fee the learned gentleman opposite is receiving for the case he is failing to make.”
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