Fears over A1 dualling as Tory councillors in Northumberland claim North East will be 'left behind' under Labour

The former Conservative government gave the green light to the proposals to dual the road between Morpeth and Ellingham in May – just days after calling the general election. The move was branded “cynical” due to the timing, coming after a string of delays dating back to January 2022 and with the Tories languishing behind in the polls.

After Labour’s landslide victory, the project was once again thrown into doubt. Further fears came in July when Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced a review into “unfunded” transport costs across the country, claiming an audit of the country’s finances had uncovered a £22billion black hole.

Speaking at a meeting of Northumberland County Council, Morpeth North Conservative councillor David Bawn said: “Key projects like dualling the A1 need to be supported. Is it back to the old days of the North East being ignored by Labour?

“I am concerned that they are stalling and threatening to cancel much of our much-needed investment.

“In recent years, Northumberland and many northern areas have received much benefit from the levelling up agenda. The first thing the new Government has done is abolish the Levelling Up department.”

The council’s deputy leader, Coun Richard Wearmouth, said: “Dualling the A1 is really important for us economically and in terms of road safety when you think of all the lives that have been lost due to a lack of dualling. There has been so much work done that must not be thrown away.

“I hope very much we are able to make the case for that continued investment. We will fight for every penny.

“Over the last number of years we have been incredibly fortunate to be the beneficiaries of significant amounts of levelling up funds – whether that is the Northumberland Line, Town Deal funding for Ashington and Blyth, the Borderlands deal, a Heritage Action Zone for Hexham and more besides.

“We are hopeful to be able to continue that. I remember the days of Tony Blair and Gordon Brown where we couldn’t get a penny – despite having all of those cabinet ministers up here. We can only hope that we don’t end up in that situation again.”

Asked for a response to the comments, the Government pointed to a statement made Transport Secretary Louise Haigh in July. At the time, she pointed to an ‘extremely challenging financial inheritance’ left by the previous Government.

She added: “The previous administration has left a £22billion public spending gap this year alone – £2.9billion of which is unfunded transport commitments. Communities up and down the country have been given hope for new transport infrastructure, with no plans or funds to deliver them.

“This Government will not make that mistake. The gap between promised schemes and the money available to deliver them has been made clear to me.

“I am commissioning an internal review of DfT’s capital spend portfolio. We will bring in external expertise and move quickly to make recommendations about current and future schemes.”