Express & Star

George Osborne: Tories will ease M6 misery

A £65 million overhaul of the gridlocked M6 would be lost if Ed Miliband becomes Prime Minister with SNP backing, George Osborne warned as he visited the region.

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The Chancellor, who went to Wolverhampton and Cannock, said the region would not 'get a look in' for millions of pounds of investment if Labour comes to power – including the planned junction 10 overhaul.

It came as Labour leader Mr Miliband, in an interview with the Express & Star, urged West Midlands voters to see they have more in common with families in Scotland than differences.

Mr Osborne said the SNP would not support investment in projects in the Midlands. He said: "For years that junction has been a problem but it is only under a Conservative Government that the investment is going in. That is because we had a Conservative Prime Minister and a Conservative Chancellor that projects like that are getting the go-ahead.

"If the Scottish Nationalists are in charge, and they are writing the budget, they are not going to want to invest in infrastructure projects in the West Midlands, they are going to be wanting to secure maximum resources for Scotland.

"There is a clear choice here, have David Cameron and the team getting back to work to make sure Cannock and Wolverhampton are having their fair share or Ed Miliband."

The M6 plan for junction 10 involves improving traffic flow by doubling the number of lanes and building improved bridges by 2020.

The impact on the West Midlands of the Scottish National Party holding the balance of power has become a key issue in the battle for marginal seats with less than a fortnight to polling day. Mr Osborne also appealed to 450,000 people who have begun receiving postal ballot papers by promising a new wave of incentives for businesses to create jobs under an extension of his 'enterprise zones' and saying 160,000 new jobs would be on their way to the West Midlands.

He spent the morning at Bilash restaurant in Wolverhampton city centre, where he cooked a meal with owner Mohammed Khan, before visiting electronics company ATP in Cannock Wood which manufactures parts for cars. He said there could be new developments on sites similar to where Jaguar Land Rover built its £500 million engine plant in Wolverhampton across the Black Country.

"What I am saying is let's look at potentially having new Enterprise Zones in the Midlands and the Black Country, let's hear from local authorities, local businesses, to put the rocket boosters under the West Midlands and the Black Country economy."

Launching the Tory plan for the region Mr Osborne said: "We are making improvements to the M6 and M42, and upgrading the M5 and A5 too.

"We will also freeze rail fares for five years, and invest £50 billion in high speed rail.

But then he claimed: "If the Scottish Nationalists are in charge, the West Midlands won't get a look in. The transport projects here? They'll be cancelled. Investment in industry here? It won't happen. "

But Mr Miliband stressed he would not allow the West Midlands to lose out.

Speaking aboard his battle bus he said: "I think working people in the West Midlands and Scotland have more in common than divides them. People in both places are worried about wages being too low, zero hours contracts, whether their sons and daughters will get an apprenticeship, what's happening to our NHS.

"And we have a plan to help working people in the West Midlands and in Scotland. What unites us is more than what divides us."

And Pat McFadden, defending his seat in Wolverhampton South East, said: "There is absolutely no basis for what George Osborne has claimed.

"In fact we've made the point that economic growth must be shared by the whole country."

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