'Wait, what?! Nearly a quarter of a billion quid to be spent on London roads - and this is badged as a "Network North" project?'
The government has been brutally mocked online after announcing that it was diverting hundreds of millions of pounds away from its failed HS2 project to improve roads in London… using money from the abandoned northern leg of HS2.
After spending years harping on about ‘levelling up’ and improving transport links to the North of England, the government is now using the money instead to improve roads in London.
The Prime Minister confirmed in October that HS2’s northern leg will be scrapped, saying that it was time to ditch the high-speed rail project between Birmingham and Manchester in the face of increasing costs. That led to widespread criticism at the time, with business chiefs, northern leaders and senior Tories condemning the move.
On Wednesday the Department for Transport (DfT), in a now deleted post, confirmed it was diverting funds away from HS2 to improve roads in London.
The post read that the government were offering “funding for each London borough to ensure millions of road users enjoy smoother and safer journeys”.
It added: “This is only possible due to £8.3 billion of extra investment from redirected HS2 funding, enough to resurface up to 5,000 miles of roads across the country.”
Attached was also a graphic which boasted about how the government was investing £235 million to improve roads in London, ‘made possible by rerouted HS2 funding’.
The post was brutally mocked online, with Adam Bienkov of Byline Times posting on X: “Another triumph for Rishi Sunak’s pledge to ‘Level up the North’ as he announces plans to divert £235 million from HS2, towards building roads in London”.
Labour’s Angela Rayner posted: “Hang on. HS2 money, pledged to ‘level up’ the North. Cancelled. Re-directed to London. Are they for real?”
Another social media user wrote: “Wait, what?! Nearly a quarter of a billion quid to be spent on London roads – and this is badged as a “Network North” project?
…with money pulled from HS2 to actually reverse the levelling-up promises?
“This government must want to deliberately irritate people.”
Basit Mahmood is editor of Left Foot Forward
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