'˜We won't bin all the pledges made in 2015' says transport secretary

TRANSPORT SECRETARY Chris Grayling has promised the Tory general election manifesto will not be an exercise in scrapping promises made two years ago.

He was speaking on a visit to the Morley and Outwood constituency, won at the last election by Tory Andrea Jenkyns, who unseated Labour’s Ed Balls with a majority of just 422.

Mr Grayling also stopped in Wakefield, the seat where Mary Creagh is seeking re-election for Labour.

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He refused to be drawn on whether the Tories would repeat a 2015 promise to cap rail fares, but acknowledged voters have “expectations” based on pledges made two years ago.

The manifesto is expected to see the Conservatives end their support for the pensions triple-lock and a downgrade of the pledge not to raise VAT, national insurance or income tax.

The 2015 document included a series of transport pledges, from developing high speed train services to electrifying major rail lines. But electrification of the Midland Mainline and Trans-Pennine North routes is delayed and a plan to upgrade the Selby to Hull line was dropped last year.

Mr Grayling said: “We are aware that people have expectations. We have no intention of suddenly throwing away all the commitments we have made.

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“There will be a new flavour to the manifesto when it comes, of course there will be, but the reality is that we’ve made promises and we endeavour to keep our promises.”

The 2015 manifesto included a promise to build HS2 to Yorkshire. It also promised a “High Speed 3 to join up the North”.

Mr Grayling said: “We’ve got a rolling programme of investment going forward on the roads and the railways. This is not something we intend to stop.”