Rehashing transport investment announcements won’t wash with voters in Yorkshire

The Government has the gall to trudge its way here and wax lyrical about what it’s doing on transport infrastructure, after years and years of betrayal.

If the Rishi Sunak had to travel by rail instead of using a private jet, he would get an idea of the sense of frustration that afflicts passengers across the North.

As Henri Murison, chief executive of business group the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said: “I don’t fundamentally understand why on earth the cabinet is coming to simply announce something that they already told us about.”

No matter how many times the Government tries to rebadge transport pledges, its betrayal on HS2 will forever be emblematic of its failure to deliver for the North.

The region is sick and tired of rebranding exercises and trite slogans that accompany them.

All it does is draw attention to the failure of the Government to deliver on the many promises it has made before.

Monday’s announcement talked up £4.7bn of funding for local transport schemes in the North and Midlands.

Ministers can try all they want to convince people of the North that these announcements aren’t an election gambit. But it is clear that this Government has gone off track and is better off being parked in a siding.