LABOUR CONFERENCE: Millions of pounds will be spent on Midlands transport says Chancellor John McDonnell
Labour will overhaul road, rail and bus travel across the Midlands by pumping millions of pounds into its flagship transport strategy, the Shadow Chancellor has announced.
During his keynote speech at the Labour party conference, John McDonnell vowed that Labour would deliver the funding required for Midlands Connect, the group tasked with improving transport links across the region.
Announcing a series of transport commitments, Mr McDonnell said: "We’ll build Crossrail for the north, connecting our great northern cities from west coast to east, and extend HS2 into Scotland.
"We’ll deliver the funding for Midlands Connect, overhauling transport across the Midlands."
Midlands Connect is tasked with improving connectivity between the west and east of the region.
The group - which includes the four Black Country councils - has proposed a Midlands Rail Hub and a slew of road improvement schemes.
It aims to boost the Midlands' economy by £5 billion and help to create 300,000 new jobs.
Meanwhile, Mr McDonnell said a Labour government would bring contracts signed under the Private Finance Initiative back into the public sector - although his comments were later clarified by the party.
He told the conference in Brighton that it was a 'scandal' that PFI deals will see nearly £200bn paid to private companies from the public sector over the next few decades.
Under Jeremy Corbyn, Labour has already promised not to sign any new PFI deals, but Mr McDonnell said the party would 'go further'.
He said: "I can tell you today, it's what you've been calling for. We'll bring existing PFI contracts back in-house."
A Labour spokesman later said the party would, in fact, review all PFI contracts and 'if necessary' bring them back in-house.
The PFI scheme was introduced in 1992 by former Conservative Prime Minister John Major, but was stepped up significantly under Tony Blair's administration, when it was used to fund the construction and operation of public sector infrastructure like hospitals.
Under PFI, a private sector consortium funds, builds and maintains a facility on behalf of a public agency, then receives payments over the term of the contract, typically lasting 25-30 years.
The scheme has led to complaints that the NHS and other public bodies are forced to pay many times the original value of the property over the course of decades, while the contracts are frequently sold on by the original consortium.
