Leading Labour politicians have confirmed that the £3 billion available for transport improvements through the Transport Innovation Fund will not be available to Greater Manchester again. Alistair Darling (Chancellor) and James Purnell (Pensions Secretary) have both been asked by the Manchester Evening News on the matter and they both confirmed that as soon as the idea of congestion charging was rejected all TIF money was locked away from their grasp.
Mr Darling said: “People knew at the time there was a vote as far as the TIF fund was concerned. But Manchester will continue to get its share of overall transport spending. I agree this is a time when we ought to bring forward infrastructure projects that will boost jobs in the short term."
Mr Purnell added: “The whole point was that the government said they would put in that funding based on the congestion charge. But people voted against that. People wouldn't be happy if we'd had a referendum, ignored it and gone ahead. So clearly, we had to listen to what people said."
These comments come despite the fact that the Environmental Audit Committee have said the government should increase funding for transport projects which would be able to be implemented fairly quickly.
Source: Manchester Evening News