'Didn't they promise this 10 years ago? They must think we are thick'

Andy Burnham has said the government is 'taking us for mugs' as the Prime Minister announces the North of England will receive an extra £2.5bn of funding for transport. The £4.7bn pot for the North and the Midlands comes from the money saved by scrapping HS2.

Last year, after cancelling the high-speed line to Manchester, the government said that Greater Manchester will get an extra £928m for transport over a four-year period starting in 2027. The funding announced today (February 26) is for other parts of the region.

Local leaders representing areas across the North West which do not currently have a mayor, including Cheshire, Lancashire and Warrington will receive £1.4bn. The announcement comes as the Prime Minister convenes the cabinet for a meeting in Yorkshire.

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Ahead of the meeting, Rishi Sunak told the Sunday Express that he wants to 'fire up the engine of the North once again'. Mr Burnham responded to the report on X, formerly Twitter, saying: "Didn’t they promise this exactly 10 years ago? They must think we are thick."

The Greater Manchester mayor was asked about the announcement on BBC's Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg programme. He said: "It was 2014 when George Osborne came to Manchester and said there would be a Northern Powerhouse, HS2 would be at the heart of it. So they've renamed it this morning - engine of the North, I think it's called now. But honestly, would anybody in the North of England look at this and not think, they're just taking us for mugs? They just keep promising this stuff. It's just not going to work."

After cancelling Phase 2 of HS2 last year, the government confirmed that Greater Manchester would receive £2.4bn in the