DAVID Cameron told critics to stop “griping” as the bitter row over delays to flagship track improvements escalated.
Answering questions in the Commons, the Prime Minister turned on MPs critical of the decision to “pause” the planned electrification of the TransPennine route, from Leeds, via Huddersfield.
The move triggered alarm in Bradford because of the inevitable knock-on effect on separate plans to electrify the Calder Valley line, from Bradford to Manchester, via Halifax.
During Prime Minister’s questions today, Bradford South MP Judith Cummins warned there was “huge concern about this in my constituency and across the North”.
And the Labour MP demanded to know whether Mr Cameron had known about the looming delay before campaigning hard on the promise of electrification at the general election.
Network Rail minutes have revealed that, as recently as March, the organisation responsible for track upgrades was planning a post-election announcement with ministers.
But Mr Cameron told MPs: “No, I was told about this after the election as we’ve set out before.”
And he added: “The point is now we need to do everything that we can to get to the bottom of the overspending and the engineering difficulties that there are.
“Frankly, we’ve committed vast sums of money, a £38bn programme in terms of rail, and I think - instead of griping and making these grievances - the whole House should get behind this programme and make sure we got on with it.”
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