Government plans to resurrect the shelved high speed rail line between Manchester and Crewe is causing “needless anxiety” to local residents, Esther McVey has said.
Ms McVey said the line was not wanted and called on government to accept the project was “dead and buried.”
She added: “To paraphrase Monty python, this project is no more it has ceased to be, it has expired and gone to meet its maker. It’s a stiff bereft of life.
“My constituents were extremely grateful to the former Prime Minister the right hon member for Richmond (Rishi Sunak) for cancelling this white elephant project and this government would do well to follow his lead.
“By continuing with this charade, this government is giving false hope to those who want it to happen and it’s causing needless anxiety to those in my constituency who don’t want it to happen.”
Speaking in Parliament Ms McVey also demanded government release land safeguarded for the now shelved HS2 project. It was due to be released in summer 2024 but has been dogged with delays following a change of government at the General Election.
Labour says the land is needed as part of the Northern Powerhouse Rail scheme and will continue to be safeguarded.
Ms McVey said: “This is outrageous, particularly for those residents in mid-Cheshire who aren’t impacted by NPR and where the government has talked about a Birmingham - Manchester line ‘in the decades to come’. It is simply unacceptable the way this government is treating my constituents.”
Ms McVey said Keir Starmer’s motive for a high speed Manchester to Crewe line was to “appease” Greater Manchester major Andy Burnham, who is widely thought to want to oust the Prime Minister and become leader of the Labour Party.
