The project has been hit with many delays
Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves makes a speech during the Labour Party Conference at the ACC Liverpool(Image: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire)
Labour will “push ahead” with Northern Powerhouse Rail, which could create a high-speed rail link between Liverpool and Manchester, the Chancellor told the party’s annual conference. Rachel Reeves addressed the main hall at Liverpool Exhibition Centre on Monday afternoon (September 29) and promised the government would move ahead with the railway project, which has been delayed many times.
Ms Reeves told the hall: “As well as the Transpennine route upgrade to link Manchester, Leeds and York and the towns in between them, this Labour Government will push ahead with our plans for Northern Powerhouse Rail. Plans never delivered by the Conservatives, plans opposed by Reform, but backed by this Labour Government.
“A vote of confidence in the north of England to get people to work, to connect families, to create jobs and to build prosperity in towns and cities scarred by underinvestment for far too long.
“That is what we are achieving together: a Labour Government, working with our Labour leaders around the country, delivering for working people.”
The Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project would see new lines developed across the major cities of the north – including a new line between Liverpool and Manchester.
The project was first proposed by former Tory chancellor George Osborne in 2014 before being shelved under Boris Johnson’s administration.
Its aim was to boost economic growth in northern England, including through improved rail services between Liverpool and Leeds, which often suffer delays and cancellations.
When former Prime Minister Rishi Sunak scrapped HS2 north of Birmingham, some £12bn of its budget was set aside to improve rail journeys between Manchester and Liverpool as part of NPR.
Mayors Steve Rotheram and Andy Burnham have long argued a new line between Liverpool and could hugely boost the economic growth of their respective city regions – and the wider north of the country.
They believe the project could deliver a £15bn boost to the economy and support 22,000 jobs during the construction phase alone.
Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham (left) and Mayor of Liverpool City Region Steve Rotheram at Rainhill Station(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
Both mayors travelled to London earlier this year to make the case for this investment, with the Liverpool ECHO and the Manchester Evening News joining forces to back those calls.
Ms Reeves stated in June that plans for the project would be published within weeks, but that didn’t happen. It was expected NPR would be announced at this conference, but that also has not happened, though the Chancellor said the government will proceed with the project.
Ms Reeves’ speech was briefly halted by a pro-Palestine protester. The audience member spoke about the “mass starvation of Palestinians”.
In response, Ms Reeves said: “We understand your cause and we are recognising a Palestinian state”, after which the hall broke into a round of applause. The Chancellor continued: “We’re now a party in government, not a party of protest.”
Also in the speech, the Chancellor said she “fundamentally” rejects the Conservative and Reform UK position that the economy is broken.
She said: “The Conservatives and Reform, they want you to believe that our economy is broken, that our best days lie behind us, the decline is inevitable. I fundamentally reject that. It’s not the country I see around me, not the future that I believe in.
“I know that things are still difficult, bills are too high, getting ahead can feel tough, and there are still too many obstacles in the way for businesses.
“And so, our central economic objective is to change that. Growth to improve living standards is a challenge, and investment is a solution.
“By overhauling our planning system, reforming our pension system, launching Britain’s very first national wealth fund and a modern industrial strategy, and signing new trade deals to back our manufacturers and our exporters with India, with the United States and with our closest neighbours and allies in Europe.”
Looking to the future, Ms Reeves said Labour’s second year in power “must be about building a renewed economy. She told the hall, there was “nothing progressive, nothing Labour, about Government using one in every £10 of public money it spends on financing debt interest”.
She said: “In the months ahead, we will face further tests, with the choices to come made all the harder by harsh global headwinds and the long-term damage done to our economy, which is becoming ever clearer.
“Our first year in power was about fixing the foundations. Our second must be about building a renewed economy for a renewed Britain: A renewed economy that works for working people and rewards their contribution.
“A renewed economy, where we reject austerity and support public services. A renewed economy that supports investment, that gets inflation and borrowing down and where we build for growth in every part of Britain.”