LABOUR’S Jonathan Ashworth has refused to commit to supporting the HS2 rail project, saying it would be dependent on the state of the project’s finances if they took power.
The Shadow Attorney General told GB News: “It’s an absolute shambles, isn’t it? An absolute shambles. We’re in this state because of 13 years of incompetent, hopeless Tory ministers who’ve not got a grip of this infrastructure project.
“I always say that nothing works in this country, it looks like now we can’t build anything, either. Look, I think we need clarity urgently because this is about business confidence. It’s about communities across the north and the Midlands who are asking questions as to where they stand now…
“We’ve always supported HS2 because we think it’s an important infrastructure project. We think it adds capacity to the network – that’s good for passengers, it’s good for freight and it also adds connectivity across the north. But we need to know what the financial situation is and the Government really needs to clear this up.”
In a discussion during Breakfast with Eamonn Holmes and Isabel Webster, he continued: “We’ve had a Conservative government that’s been utterly cavalier and irresponsible with the public finances…we will not be irresponsible with the public finances.
“We will always make decisions that put the public finances on a stable footing. So I can’t say to you on your show, ‘here’s a blank cheque’.
“We need to see what the government figures are, what the government’s financial projections are, before we make a judgement.”
Asked about the strike by armed police officers, he said: “Well, firearms policing is a really important part of policing service. It’s vital that they have support but there are also safeguards in place.
“Now there’s been a review announced about the Home Secretary. We don’t know the details of that review yet…
“We obviously need to make sure we have procedures in place which commands the confidence of both the police officers and the communities they serve.”
