Leeds residents have reacted to the decision from Rishi Sunak to scrap the northern leg of the HS2 railway project, which would have added transport connections between Manchester and Leeds.
In his keynote speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, the Prime Minister confirmed that it will be scrapped, following speculation and uproar from the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.
Sunak said the HS2 project is the "ultimate example of the old consensus", and instead pledged "hundreds of new transport projects in the North and the Midlands, and across the country".
Sunak added: "This means £36billion of investment, in the projects that will make a real difference across our country."
Leeds residents share their thoughts on the scrapping of HS2 in the north
GB News
Speaking to the public in Leeds following the decision, locals told GB News their thoughts on the scrap.
One local said of the decision: "In terms of buses, I think the transport is quite good, but I think the trains can be improved a little bit more and I think, yeah, I think transport's quite good. First bus has done a good job.
"I think it should go towards better train links between like Leeds and Newcastle because Manchester and Leeds are not really the north, they're more like the middle of England. We also need to focus on Middlesbrough, Newcastle and maybe parts of Scotland as well because I think most of the attention is focused more towards London.
"But I think, yeah, definitely Leeds and Manchester and Liverpool, they're all good in terms of economy, so I think they need to be focused on a little bit more and especially links towards Newcastle as well."
Another slammed the decision to scrap HS2’s northern leg, stating: "It's a bit rubbish. The buses are always late, or they just don't turn up. So when you're trying to get to like school or college or work or anything like that, it's a bit rubbish to get to.
"Obviously I'm in college quite far away because I have my overside of Leeds. It takes forever to get there and if buses are late, I'm left till about an hour because it's an hour between each bus."
Her friend then shared her thoughts on the scrap, admitting: "Well, I mean I think the money should go more into like the NHS and schools and that just because education's horrible around here, I can't deal with it.
"Obviously HS2, it's supposed to like get rid of the north-south divide, but it's not really doing out for it because no one really goes down London from here anyway."
Andy Burnham said the decision to scrap HS2 in the north is 'not a coherent plan'
PA
An elderly local praised the idea, saying: "Actually it's very good, and I feel very fortunate, and I feel very lucky in that we have a bus stop just outside our front door and I can get a bus sort of every 15 minutes, 20 minutes at the most. And coming back, going back home, it's the same. So I have no complaints at all."
Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham, has since reacted to the announcement made by Rishi Sunak.
Burnham said: "What's been announced at the conference today is not that coherent plan. It does not deliver Northern Powerhouse Rail in full to Leeds.
"And the reason why that's a problem is because if you ask anybody here, they will say that the bottle neck that we have in rail capacity in the centre of Manchester, and the bottle neck on the other side of the Pennines in Leeds and the constrained capacity between the two cities, is actually the single biggest thing that is holding back transport in the north."
