Spending review frustrates South West transport campaigners

Some politicians, railway campaigners and residents in the South West have expressed disappointment following the Government's spending review on Wednesday.Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced £15bn of new investment in transport projects last week, and none of the money has so far been earmarked for named projects in Devon or Cornwall.Reeves pledged funding for affordable homes, health, defence and schools but any areas in the South West set to benefit have not been spelt out at this stage.Some campaigners and local residents had hoped her speech would have included additional investment for the region - such as funding to bring back Cullompton's railway station.
Mid-Devon district councillor Steve Keable said the "political reality" was that Reeves was "playing into her Labour heartland" by prioritising other parts of the country.Keable, who represents Taw Vale for the Liberal Democrats, said he hoped to find out "over the next few days" what would happen to "the capital funding that Cullompton and Mid Devon are so looking forward to".He added that the Cullompton Station project, as well as a separate project to build an additional junction on the M5 south of the town, could not "progress before we get the go ahead".
'Days out for children'
Some local residents remain supportive of the railway station project."I think it would boost the economy of the town," one said, adding: "I think it needs some money to push local businesses forward."Another local resident said the station was "always used before" and felt "the trains would be used more" if the station was rebuilt.One mother said it would be "fantastic" if the station came back, adding: "My children would have access to days out - it would be really wonderful for everyone."
Hoping for funds
Cornwall Council was awarded £184m in January by the UK's Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) to help boost the local economy.However, the government announced this week it would be replacing the fund, which itself was originally established to replace EU funding by the last Conservative government.Cornwall previously received about £400m of Objective One funding from the EU as it contained some of the poorest areas in England and Wales.The government said it planned to establish a "new local growth fund" aimed at "mayoral city regions in the North and Midlands", as well as investing in up to "350 deprived communities across the UK".Jayne Kirkham, Labour MP for Truro and Falmouth, said she had been told the money from the fund would be distributed by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), adding: "So that will come a bit later.""We are hoping that is coming soon and what the SPF might be morphing into," she said.Andrew George, Liberal Democrats MP for St Ives, said money for Cornwall should be ring-fenced if "there [was] ring-fencing for other nations".George said Cornwall had "rightly" received the investment over the last 25 years. "Now what we want to happen is to make sure Cornwall is treated as it has been over that period," he said.

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2 hours ago

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Our posh village is now ghost town strewn with empty homes – we've slashed asking prices by £100k but no-one wants them

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Times

2 hours ago

• Times

HS2 boss took home £4.5m during ‘appalling mess' of project

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Telegraph

5 hours ago

• Telegraph

Rachel Reeves's plan is unravelling. She could be gone before the next Budget

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On top of that, there were the tax rises we always knew were likely because Labour had refused to rule them out – the increases in capital gains tax and stamp duty, and the removal of incentives to entrepreneurs. It has maybe taken longer than some of us expected, but the bad news for the Chancellor – and us – now seems to be arriving like buses. I've imagined what it's like to be at the end of that constant deluge of bad numbers. 'Incoming!' The annual estimate for public sector borrowing for year ending March 2025 is £148.3bn – £17.2bn more than last year and £11bn more than the OBR forecast. Reeves carries on with her Sudoku. 'Incoming!' Oh no! The latest inflation figures for April have surged to 3.4pc, trending towards double the Bank of England's target of 2pc. Reeves stares out the window. 'Incoming!' The unemployment rate is up 0.2pc to 4.6pc – the highest since 2021. The unemployed claimant count is up 107,000 year-on-year to 1.73 million. 'Incoming!' Monthly GDP is down -0.3pc, three times worse than the -0.1pc consensus prediction. Reeves purses her lips. Looking forward, we can imagine over the months of July, August and September an unrelenting series of indicators breaking bad. 'Incoming!' The latest tax receipts are below estimates. The latest borrowing numbers are up again. Finally, the markets are beginning to react. 'Incoming!' The pound has fallen to $1.20, the lowest since 2023. Gilts are moving too. 'Incoming!' Ten-year gilt yields are over 5pc. The Bank of England reverses course and puts rates up to 4.5pc. 'Incoming!' The team from the IMF has arrived. 'Incoming!' Prime Minister! I have the Chancellor's letter of resignation. That type of scenario might seem far-fetched, but it is the trajectory the country is travelling. Unemployment is already up 10pc since Labour came to power, and sadly there's no reason to believe this trend will be reversed. Since 'modern' records began, in 1971, every Labour government has left office with unemployment higher in percentage and absolute numbers than when it took power. Reeves is continuing that tragic tradition. The spending statement from Rachel Reeves was not so much a review as a litany of unfunded spending commitments aimed not at reassuring the markets, but at reassuring Labour backbenchers. The brighter among them will not buy it. They will soon notice the important numbers getting worse every month as the full effect of the employers' National Insurance increase, the lowering of the threshold to start paying it and the increase in the minimum pay rates costs jobs and halts hiring. What does this all mean for people trying to get by: the savers, pensioners and those running their own businesses? It means that tax rises are not just inevitable in October's Budget, they will become a must-do if an embarrassing bail out is to be avoided. Labour likes to talk of having ended austerity – something that Philip Hammond, former Conservative chancellor, first claimed back in 2017. The truth of it is the UK has never had real austerity this century. The direction of travel of our public spending has always been up. When you hear of spending cuts, what you are being told about is cuts to the rate of increase in government spending, not a cut in the total amount of spending, which continues to rise year-on-year. Increasing taxes means an attack on our pensions, our savings and our properties. The tax hikes will be passed off as necessary to save the NHS when the NHS really requires an overhaul that boosts its productivity. The much hyped increases for the NHS of £29bn each year over the next three years is most likely to be eaten up by rising pay awards. The NHS is one of the world's largest employers, with around 1.3 million full-time equivalent staff in England (as of February 2024). Consequently, the wage bill for the NHS makes up a substantial proportion of its budget. Nurses are already being balloted about strike action over an 3.6pc inflation-busting pay offer – junior doctors are also wanting more again. In 2022-23, the total cost of employing the staff in the NHS was £71bn – 45.6pc of the NHS budget. These statistics don't include salaries for GPs (who are not directly employed by the NHS), nor employees in the Department of Health and Social Care and other national bodies, such as NHS England. GPs and GP practice staff are indirectly funded by the NHS through a complex system of contracts. The Resolution Foundation think tank estimates that, by the end of the decade, half of all public spending will be going to the NHS – and continuing to rise. So optimistic has Reeves been about 'fixing the foundations' and 'delivering growth' while 'making the right choices', that there will be no way back for the Chancellor when the next crisis begins. The next time someone shouts 'incoming!' in the Treasury, everyone had better duck under their desks. It will be to announce a new Chancellor.