KHOODEELAAR! No to “the CRASSly conceived, crassly over-hyped, crassly overvalued London Crossrail ...” analysis vindicated in the North East of Engla

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http://www.journallive.co.uk/north-east-news/todays-news/2008/09/16/brown-accused-of-failing-the-north-61634-21823924/

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Brown accused of failing the North
Sep 16 2008 by William Green, The Journal

NEWCASTLE Council leader John Shipley has launched an outspoken attack on the Government, accusing it of failing the North.
The Labour Government has held back the region by failing to upgrade its transport network while ploughing billions of pounds into projects – such as the Crossrail scheme – in London and the South East, said Mr Shipley.
And the Liberal Democrat blasted Gordon Brown for cutting £34m from the region’s development agency budget, claiming the cash was being used to fund the Prime Minister’s recently-announced housing rescue package in the South East. But Labour was now paying the price with Lib Dems winning a swathe of Northern councils, said Mr Shipley during a fringe event at his party’s conference in Bournemouth.
His comments come as the Lib Dem conference will today debate proposals to improve the country’s transport system.
Referring to the unfair funding of transport projects, he said: “It actually causes me a great deal of worry and the electorate has noticed.
“There are five Northern cities, Leeds, Liverpool, Sheffield, Hull and Newcastle that all now have Liberal Democrat leaders. And I think that says a very great deal about what the electorates think of a Labour Government for which the last 11 years has been in power and in a position to do a lot in support of the North of England.”
Mr Shipley acknowledged the risk of a “whinge factor” but warned that did not mean avoiding the truth, with Treasury rules proving a “real hindrance” to overcoming the South East’s economic dominance.
“Treasury rules require payback in terms of economic development, things like number of jobs generated in a short period of time. So Crossrail will always give you a faster return on Government investment than high speed rail to the North of England and let’s just add Scotland to that for this is a United Kingdom. It will always give you a faster, quicker, higher return.”
He also suggested South East regional development agencies should be axed because their purpose was unclear after ministers took £34m from the North East’s development budget to pay for housing rescue measures in the South East.
Ministers insist the North receives huge sums of transport funding, but that London is a special case.


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