The Northern media gears up for a fight

As seen above six leading regional newspapers from Tyneside to Manchester all had similar front pages as part of a coordinated last ditch effort to save Northern Powerhouse Rail which looks as though it will be ditched on Thursday by the government.

The move by the papers should be seen as a warniing to ministers of the likely political reaction.

This is a project that includes HS3 between Manchester and Leeds with upgrades and new routes with links to Newcastle, Liverpool, Bradford and Sheffield and other major cities and was promised by George Osborne in 2014.

Whether the PM likes it or not going ahead project has become very much a symbol of the Tory commitment to “levelling up” and any watering down could have electoral consequences particualry in the so called “red wall” seats.

It is being reported that the central element, the Manchester-Leeds highspeed line, is not going to survive.

One of the beefs of those in the North is that the vast bulk of the railway investment is going to the southern parts of England while their antiquated rail services suffer.

Mike Smithson