A North East MP has accused Labour of a “shameless attempt to buy votes” in pledging to reopen a mothballed railway line.
Paul Howell, the Conservative MP for Sedgefield, claimed he was “astonished” by Labour spending promises as discord broke out over the region’s long-held ambitions to revitalise the Leamside Line. It comes after shadow transport secretary Louise Haigh confirmed during a speech in Newcastle that Labour would revive the disused route, which runs between Gateshead and County Durham, if it was in Government – something a party spokesman confirmed was simply a “reiteration” of an existing Labour policy commitment to build the vast Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) project in its entirety.
Speaking at the Transport for the North annual conference on Monday, Ms Haigh pledged to deliver both NPR and HS2 – saying that the “unacceptable” state of the North’s transport infrastructure had made the region “less than the sum of its parts”. Restoring trains to the Leamside Line has been a key aim of the North East’s leaders for years and the campaign has been promoted by Labour and Tory MPs alike, including Mr Howell.
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But in a statement issued on Wednesday, he said he was “thrilled” to see Ms Haigh was supportive of the Leamside project – but that “the sums just don’t stack up”. In January, transport chiefs and MPs presented ministers with a strategic outline case to reopen just a northern section of the route to help create a new Washington Loop of the Tyne and Wear Metro – a huge project expected to cost £745m.
Mr Howell said he worries that “unaccounted promises” about the Leamside Line could ultimately lead to disappointment, with the proposals to revitalise it still in the early stages and needing years more development. Urging “greater cross-party cooperation” to secure the funding that will shape the line’s future, the Sedgefield MP said: “The last thing I want to see is the Leamside Line become a political football. There is so much riding on the ongoing business case and I would hate to see all of our hard-won progress squandered by a shameless attempt to buy votes— our communities deserve better.”
He added: “I would love to meet with the shadow transport secretary in good faith to discuss the details of her proposal. If she can provide any new evidence which may get the line approved sooner, then I would highly encourage her to share it with colleagues who have been working on this project for years and in some cases decades. Ultimately the prospects of our communities depend on it.”
When contacted by the Local Democracy Reporting Service, Ms Haigh’s office declined to comment.
Martin Gannon, the Labour leader of Gateshead Council and chair of the North East Joint Transport Committee, said: “We are working with the Conservative Party as well and we want to see it in their manifesto too. I expect it to be delivered by a Labour government and I want to see a Labour government, but I want to see this in the Tory manifesto too.
“Of course I welcome the announcement by Louise Haigh, but the case for Leamside is overwhelming and compelling. It is essential to the levelling up of the North East of England and, therefore, I expect that all parties nationally will support it in an election manifesto.”
There are hopes that the impending £4bn devolution deal for the North East could also be key to getting the Leamside Line reopened. While the historic agreement does not secure any money to pay for the huge scheme, it does commit the Government in writing to work with the region to push forward the plans.
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