In the past, conferences held to discuss transport policy have occasionally had a tendency to fall into anorak conventions for well-versed individuals to compare detailed notes on specific metres of track or reminisce over previous plans that had fallen by the wayside. However, the Transport Summit hosted by Downtown In Business last week avoided falling into this thick sludge of transport policy debate. The summit was organised in response to recent announcements by Chris Grayling MP, which provided a platform for the Greater Manchester Mayor and other northern leaders to organise and collectively share their outrage at perceived inaction and broken promises in regards to northern investment by the Government.
The Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, was crowned the de-facto leader of a new - yet loose - northern alliance, already being termed as a “Council for the North”. The new council presented their inaugural challenge to the Government in an agreed statement, calling on it to “honour its commitments” to the North and to solve the “disparity between transport in the North and London”. The summit represented northern action finally becoming coordinated, under a single banner with Burnham putting himself at the helm, having himself recognised that in the past that they had “struggled to speak with one clear voice”.
It must be said that that the event was not in fact organised by Andy Burnham and was also not “meant to be a political rally”. Despite this, by 1pm it was firmly Burnham’s summit. He had delivered a rousing speech and successfully asked the conference to commit to the formation of a ‘Council for The North’ and agree to a hastily printed statement still warm from the photocopier.
Although the rhetoric prior to the summit was quite adversarial between the northern Metro Mayors and the Government, the speakers, including the leaders of Newcastle, Manchester and Leeds City Councils, stressed the need to not “bash London” but to argue for equality with the capital in spending terms. This was emphasised by the former Treasury Minister, Lord Jim O’Neil, who, when assessing arguments that London “gets everything“, argued for a new vision with northern cities speaking as one; an agglomeration of “MAN-SHEF-LEEDS-POOL” as he called it. Whilst some may have been surprised that Andy Burnham took this up so quickly just an hour later, it must be remembered that Labour announced plans earlier this year for a new Council of the North, also proposing a Northern Investment Bank alongside it. Compared to Labour original proposals, the newly formed loose arrangement of ‘Council for the North’ does not go as far, although does represent a step in the right direction.
Crucial details about what this Council for the North will look like, who will be in it, and how it will work are yet to be decided. Its first test will be to take the government to task on promised investment in infrastructure, following the recent decision to scrap rail electrification plans. Ultimately, the council will be arguing for further devolution of powers away from Westminster.
For the time being, it appears the coordination of northern soft power under Burnham has unified political leaders of almost 8 million people behind a northern agenda. Whether it can also deliver investment, powers, jobs and enterprise to the region remains to be seen, however it is clear that the ambition of its political leadership is only set to grow.
