Press Story

Reacting to plans for the Manchester leg of HS2 to be scrapped, Zoë Billingham, director of IPPR North, said:

“The government has played fast and loose with HS2 and scrapping the Manchester leg is a betrayal of the North.

“Transport is the backbone of rebalancing our regions. New promises heard today to redeploy HS2 funding – across the whole country – not only undermines levelling up but also lacks credibility.

“Northern Powerhouse Rail and HS2 are in the long-term interest of the country. This is a double blow for the North.”

IPPR analysis shows that:

If the North had received the same transport investment as London over the last decade, it would have received £86bn more
If the North were a country, it would be second only to Greece for the lowest levels of investment in the OECD
Since 1995, the UK has been below the average of G7 and OECD peers on public investment
UK pays over the odds for transport investment - $790m a kilometre vs international average of $212m