Labour has pledged to ‘support any city’ that wants London-style powers over local transport and ticketing if it takes power in 2015.
Speaking at the Labour conference in Manchester, shadow transport secretary Mary Creagh said her party would back urban areas to receive ‘buses and smart, integrated tickets’ similar to those currently seen in the capital.
Creagh added that the combined authorities in the North East and West Yorkshire would have her ‘full support’ to roll out buses through a Quality Contract if Labour took power in next year’s General Election.
The speech came after Ed Balls, Labour’s shadow chancellor, spoke of plans to devolve greater powers over local transport to regions, as part of the current drive towards decentralisation.
‘Why should decisions on what skills Manchester needs be made in Whitehall? Why should a transport minister in Westminster make decisions about all the transport needs of Birmingham, Newcastle or Leeds?’ Balls said.
‘Our economic plan will devolve power and resources not only to Scotland and Wales but to city and county regions in every part of England.’
Shadow communities minister Hilary Benn this week said Labour plans to reshape national decision making would ‘free local communities, the people of England, to shape their own destiny’.
