Labour refuses to commit to dualling the A1 in Northumberland as Angela Rayner vows not to 'overpromise'

The Labour deputy leader refused to commit a future Keir Starmer government to widening a stretch of the road between Morpeth and Ellingham.

Two days after Rishi Sunak called the general election, the Tory government made a surprise announcement to grant final consent for the project after multiple delays previously.

Political opponents branded the timing of the pledge ‘desperate’ and criticised the Conservatives for having failed to deliver on the A1 dualling during 14 years in office, though the prime minister insisted on a visit to Blyth last weekend that the dualling would go ahead if the Tories were to win the election on July 4.

Speaking on a visit to Hexham on Tuesday morning, Ms Rayner declined to make the same promise.

Ms Rayner said: “I don’t believe what Rishi Sunak has said. They have had 14 years in government now and it is always jam tomorrow. It is terrible to try and promise something he knows he can’t deliver. He can’t say where the money is coming from and Labour won’t do that.

“When we get into government, if we are lucky enough to win the general election, we will look at the books and see where the priorities are.

“But if we have a Labour MP here I am pretty sure he is going to be going out there tapping on Rachel’s door making sure people in Hexham get their fare share of what they need for their local area. If the A1 is crucial to that I am pretty sure Joe (Morris, Labour’s Hexham candidate) is going to be pushing that.

“The important thing is that, like Keir has said, we will not overpromise. We are not going to go down that road. Rishi Sunak has had 14 years and he has failed the people of the North East.

“We will set out our programme for government and we will make sure we can deliver. We will look at each individual case when we get into government, but we cannot make that promise now and I am not going to pretend that we can.”