Government pulls plug on plans to dual 13 miles of the A1 in Northumberland

The Labour Government has decided not to proceed with a planned eight mile upgrade between Morpeth and Felton and a further five miles between Alnwick and Ellingham.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget announcement was slammed by Conservative county councillors and Berwick’s former MP.

Cllr Guy Renner-Thompson, Conservative member for Bamburgh ward on Northumberland County Council, said "This is a shameful decision which puts more lives at risk driving on this dangerous and busy road.

"After all the hard work from local campaigners this is a waste of over £60 million already spent on buying the land and doing the surveys to start the work.

“Our new Labour MP has a lot of questions to answer over his failure to get his government to prioritise the main road between England and Scotland.”

Cllr Gordon Castle, Conservative member for Alnwick ward, said: "A dreadful disappointment and a dreadful decision. So much for our new Labour MP's election campaign vow to fight for it - considering his party is now in power it can't have been much of a fight.

"The Conservatives took far too long to finally make the decision to go ahead, but at least it was made and funds identified from the HS2 cancellation. It's put Northumberland on the back foot again."

And David Bawn, Morpeth North, Conservative, added: “I am disgusted but not surprised by the government’s announcement to abandon the vital and much needed upgrade of the A1 north of Morpeth.

"This scheme has been in the pipework for a long time and so much progress was made including site acquisition and planning permission and final sign off. The scheme was finally “shovel ready”.

"The fact that the Chancellor called the scheme “uncosted and unbudgeted” is an insult to all the work carried out and the £67 million of taxpayers’ money already spent.

“Our new Labour MP needs to hold his government to task and stand up for his constituents on this issue. His repeating the Chancellor’s “uncosted and unbudgeted” shows just how out of touch he is.”

Anne-Marie Trevelyan, the former transport secretary and Berwick MP, accused Labour of “treating the North East with contempt”.

She added: “£10 billion on train driver and doctor inflation-busting wage hikes… £200 million of that could have gone to infrastructure critical to growth.”

North Northumberland MP David Smith admitted he was ‘disappointed’ that the dualling scheme will not go ahead.

However he welcomed the Government’s renewed commitment to the improvement of the A1’s road safety.

He said: ‘I’m disappointed and frustrated that we won’t be getting the A1 dualled in the near future, but I’m even more disappointed that previous Tory Governments have been making promises for years that they could never keep.

"Despite repeated announcements, there has never been £290m for dualling the A1. Instead we spent years waiting on unfunded and unaffordable promises. How can you build a road without the money to do it?’

The Government remains committed to improving the A1’s poor safety record, which Mr Smith said has always been his primary concern.

Louise Haigh, Secretary of State for Transport, and Lilian Greenwood, Minister of State for the Future of Roads, have agreed to meet the MP as soon as possible to discuss how the Government can progress work to make the A1 safer throughout Northumberland.

Mr Smith continued: “I said in the general election campaign, and since becoming an MP, that one of my primary focuses is the A1 and its safety record.

"In the weeks and months ahead I’m looking forward to engaging with the Government on how to make the road safer for North Northumberland residents.

"This will include highlighting the junctions and stretches of the road which are most problematic, and pressing for further funding to enable these to be upgraded to become safer.

“If there is a silver lining to ending 14 years of Conservative foot-dragging, it’s that we can now apply a safety focus to the whole stretch of the A1 throughout Northumberland again, and not just the 13 miles between Morpeth to Ellingham.”

The previous Conservative Government had the project the green light just before the General Election following a series of delays. However, following Labour’s landslide victory in July, the Chancellor announced a review of a range of “unfunded” transport projects.

Cllr Georgina Hill, Independent member for Berwick East, said: “People will, rightly, criticise the Labour Government over this. However, the Tories have no right to crow. In all the years, they have been in power, they didn’t dual the A1 and treated voters like fools by announcing partial dualling just before the recent General Election. It is, sadly and inevitably, the continuation of governments of all colours, failing to invest in the real north or recognising our particular needs.”

Sam Richards, CEO of pro-growth campaign group Britain Remade, said: "Last year, Sir Keir Starmer rightly criticised the then Conservative government for its failure to dual the A1 between Morpeth to Ellingham almost a decade after it was first promised. After numerous delays and £67 million spent on planning, this critical scheme was finally given the go-ahead in May.

“This stretch of the A1 is one of the few parts of Britain’s longest road that is still a single lane - causing traffic chaos for everyone that relies on it. Dualling is crucial for cutting congestion and journey times between Newcastle and Edinburgh, while boosting growth and local jobs.

“So we were extremely surprised and disappointed to see the project cancelled as part of the Budget. While we appreciate the pressure on government finances, we urge ministers to reconsider this decision at the earliest opportunity."