Labour has hinted that it will scrap plans to build high-speed rail in the UK amid claims it could cost the north-east economy hundreds of millions of pounds.
A report by KPMG concluded Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire and Moray would be more than £220million a year worse off under the project, which will put faster trains on routes between London Euston and the Midlands, north-west England and West Yorkshire.
It said cities, towns and regions in the south of England would reap the benefits of being better connected but other places would pay a price
UK Government ministers had earlier said HS2 would boost Britain’s economy by £2billion a year.
Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said yesterday he was “very confident” the HS2 project would be delivered under budget. He stressed that the government would stick to the £42.6billion earmarked for the project, as senior Labour figures appeared to cool on the plans.
Mr Alexander made the comments at the start of a crucial week for HS2, when Labour support may be needed for the government’s proposals to continue their passage through the Commons – a number of Tory MPs are preparing to vote against a bill paving the way for the project.
Shadow chancellor Ed Balls made clear that Labour, if elected, would not repeat the “mistake” of the Millennium Dome and waste money on unnecessary schemes inherited from a Tory government.
In an interview about the high-speed rail project, Mr Balls was challenged over Labour’s record in adopting the Conservative-inspired Dome in London – now the O2 Arena – and building it despite the costs soaring to £750million.
Mr Balls said: “The Millennium Dome was a Conservative vanity project which the Labour government should have scrapped in 1997 and didn’t. It was a mistake and I think you should learn from your mistakes.”