Almost all of Sunak’s proposals had already been part
of government plans, so cannot be described as
new investments, nor reinvestments:
-
Extend NPR to Hull: Hull
first proposed a fast-track electrification of the 70 miles
(112km) of track in 2013. The government agreed that work
should “focus on electrification and line speed improvements to
improve journey times from Hull to Leeds” in 2021.
-
Electrification of Hope Valley line - Integrated Rail
Plan: the government previously
stated: “any further future improvements to
Manchester–Sheffield would best be based on an upgrade and
electrification of the existing Hope Valley Line”.
-
Don Valley Line:
-
- Announced in 2020 (Link)
- £50,000 was thrown at the consultation and nothing
changed.
-
Improved connectivity between Bradford and Manchester
- promised to deliver as part of Northern Powerhouse
Rail in three consecutive manifestos.
-
Sunak promised to upgrade the A1, A2, A5, M6 and A75,
yet almost all of these projects were in the future pipeline of
schemes delayed only six months ago by him for up to five years
until after 2030:
-
- A1 Doncaster to Darrington
- A2 Brenley Corner, A2 Dover Access
- A5 Hinckley to Tamworth
- M6 Junctions 19 to 21a Knutsford to Croft extra capacity,
M6 junction 22, M6 junction 15 Potteries southern access.
-
Shipley Bypass
-
- This was first touted back in 2018 (Link)
- £300,000 was spent on consultations and feasibility
studies.
-
Blyth Relief
-
- This was also first touted in 2018 (Link)
- Construction was supposed to start in 2020 and didn't.
On Sunak’s promise to invest in local rail and road
projects:
- When the Tories axed the eastern route of HS2 in December
2021, they promised that their alternative proposals would “bring
the north and midlands closer together” and “rebalance our
economic geography”. Link
- However, in that time the Tories have failed to deliver on
that promise. Rishi Sunak’s government has dithered, delayed and
wasted taxpayers money in the process.
o Dither: Just 2.2km of track
has been upgraded since the promise to bring the north and
midlands closer together, figures from the Office of Rail and
Roads show. Link
o Delay: In the 12 months
since plans for a proposed new rail link between East Lancashire
and Manchester have been submitted to ministers, neither
Ministers nor the DfT have issued any update.
o Waste: The government has
wasted £190m on work to upgrade 76 miles of railway between
Manchester and York, via Huddersfield and Leeds, after they
scrapped northern rail plans, according to the National Audit
Office. Link
- These damning findings come as makes yet more promises
about investing in northern transport infrastructure, as he
scraps the final Northern section of HS2.
On Sunak’s plan to scrap
A-Levels:
- This Prime Minister and his Conservative government are
failing to drive the high and rising standards our schools
desperately need, have overseen a widening attainment gap, and
failed a generation of young people.
- The public will see that the Conservatives are plainly unable
to deliver these reforms, at a time when they see our schools
crumbling, teachers leaving in their droves, thousands of
children persistently absent from school and thousands more
struggling without proper mental health support.
- These reforms do nothing to take on the attainment gaps that
are established in the early part of the education system and
only widen as they progress through school – Labour will take a
different approach and tackle these gaps earlier.
- The difference between the parties in education is clear: the
Conservatives talk a big game but have allowed our schools to
fall into disrepair, Labour has a long-term plan to drive high
and rising standards in our state schools by recruiting 6,500
more teachers and putting mental health counsellors in every
secondary school.
On Sunak’s plans to ban smoking:
- Labour's Mission for an NHS fit for the future included a
commitment to a Smoke Free Britain - because we are committed to
saving lives and reducing pressure on the NHS.
- Though Tory MPs may oppose this measure, Labour will not play
politics with public health. If doesn’t cave into the wing of his party, Labour will
lend him the votes to get this passed.
On Sunak’s claim to be the ‘change
candidate’:
- We’ve had 13 years of Tory failure and has been at the centre of
it. He was the Chancellor who axed many of the rail projects
he’s announced today, who slashed funding to schools that left
classrooms collapsing, who handed crony contracts out during
Covid, and who gave the country the highest tax burden for 70
years.
- This is a Tory party whose chaos and economic incompetence
has left mortgage holders facing £220 rises a month and rents
soaring.
- Sunak is too weak to stand up to this party - his Cabinet
have spent this week openly jockeying to replace
him.
- Over the past fortnight, has repeatedly bowed to the
Truss wing of the Tory Party. Sunak’s U-turn on electric
vehicles came barely 48 hours after Truss demanded it. And
after Truss demanded £30bn in unfunded tax cuts, Sunak has now
floated his own, unfunded, plans to abolish inheritance tax -
which would personally save him £300m.
On small boat crossings:
- Home Office figures show that more than 1,000 migrants have
crossed the Channel since Tory conference began and a whopping
32,956 have made the journey under Sunak’s premiership.
-
has now reached half of the
entire arrivals total under Boris Johnson’s tenure, despite
Sunak being in post for less than a third of the time that his
predecessor was in charge.
-
once again outright lied
about Labour’s migration policy. Labour will not sign the UK up
to an EU quota scheme.
- Despite Sunak’s claim that the Rwanda policy will be a
deterrent, a letter to then Home Secretary , from the Permanent Secretary
of the Home Office, , said there wasn’t enough
evidence “to demonstrate that the policy will have a deterrent
effect significant enough to make the policy value for money.”
Link
