HS2: Grant Shapps balks at betrayal claims over scrapped rail plan

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has hit back at criticism of a rail upgrade plan that will scrap the high-speed rail HS2 link to Leeds.

Grant Shapps told BBC Breakfast that "betrayal is a strong word" following claims of broken promises by northern leaders and some MPs.

The £96bn rail package will see some existing trains lines upgraded rather than high-speed track being built.

Thursday's announcement won support from some firms and anti-HS2 groups.

However, the decision to scrap much of the eastern leg of HS2 - between East Midlands Parkway in Nottingham and Leeds - was condemned.

The government was also criticised for its scaled-back plans for the Northern Powerhouse Rail rail project between Leeds and Manchester.

Mr Shapps insisted that the "vast majority" of journeys would be faster as a result of the new Integrated Rail Plan after reacting to the front pages of some newspapers that described the rail plans as a "betrayal".

"These are plans we will be able to deliver in this decade," said Mr Shapps. "People can actually see those journey improvements now."

But Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer said that the "anger on the ground was palpable" in Yorkshire on Thursday after people learned about the scaled-back scheme.

"[The prime minister] has then ripped up that promise, betrayed the North and exposed something... that's that the levelling up agenda is just a slogan."

He added that the Labour party would build the line in full, saying the scrapped sections included in its previous manifesto would be "its commitment" going forward.

HS2 was originally meant to connect London with Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds but it has run over time and budget.

Work has already started on the first phase of HS2, linking London and the West Midlands. The next section will extend the line to Crewe.

The final phase was to take HS2 to Manchester and Leeds. As recently as May this year, Mr Shapps said the Birmingham to Leeds link would go ahead and would be delivered earlier than planned.

Some senior Conservative MPs and other members of the opposition hit out at the plans.

Huw Merriman, who chairs the Commons transport select committee, suggested prime minister Boris Johnson was "selling perpetual sunlight and then leaving it to others to explain the arrival of moonlight".

And Tory MP Robbie Moore, whose Keighley seat sits close to Bradford, said he was "deeply disappointed" by the package, which had "completely short-changed" his constituents.

The city had expected to be included on the proposed Leeds to Manchester route and to see a station built to accommodate new trains.

A report out earlier this week found that Bradford had the worst connections of any city in the UK, despite being the UK's seventh largest city and being centrally located.

Some industry groups, such as the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, representing councils and businesses, said that not including Bradford in the east-west upgrade would be "disastrous" in economic terms.

Labour's Hilary Benn, who represents Leeds Central, alsosaid thatMr Johnson had "repeatedly promised" the new high-speed Leeds-Manchester line would be "built in full", adding: "Leeds and the North have been betrayed".

There was also criticism that a significant portion of the £96bn pledged as new investment has already been announced, such as £360m to improve ticketing.

Some campaigners against the HS2 line, however, said they were pleased, describing the project as wasteful.

Sandra Haith, from an anti-HS2 group in Bramley, Rotherham, said she was pleased, "not only as a resident of Bramley, but as a taxpayer. It's a complete waste of money".

She said: "The eastern leg costs a lot of money and it basically connects two cities. We can't get on it. We've got all the pain and no gain."