Prime Minister ‘betrayed the North’ by cutting HS2 Leeds link, says Keir Starmer

TToday Transport Secretary Grant Shapps unveiled the government’s Integrated Rail Plan (IRP), which confirmed the removal of the eastern section of HS2 to Leeds and the reduction of the Northern Powerhouse Rail between Manchester and Leeds.
See the post at 3:37 p.m. for an overview of the main elements of the new plan.
The PM has met backlash from both sides of the political spectrum, but in particular from conservative Red Wall MPs, who believe the North is being betrayed by the decision to cut part of the HS2 extension.
Conservative Huw Merriman, chairman of the Transport Select Committee, accused Boris Johnson of “selling perpetual sun” and delivering “moonlight” on rail projects for northern England.
Another Tory MP said he was “deeply disappointed” by the rail announcement as his constituency, Keighley in West Yorkshire, is one of the most “socially disadvantaged” areas in the UK.
Labor shadow secretary Jim McMahon called the announcement a “big train theft”, while Sir Keir Starmer accused Mr Johnson of “disappointing everyone in the North”.
However, Mr Shapps insisted the IRP would cut travel times in the region with 110 miles of new high-speed line and Dominic Raab called the government’s revised rail plan a “win-win” this morning. .
Check out the 3:03 PM post to see a breakdown of the top 10 routes that lost the most from the revised HS2 plan and the graph below to see which routes are affected.