Government's Boast About Using Old HS2 Funds Leads To Social Media Mockery For 1 Obvious Reason

"This sort of thing makes life very difficult for satirists."
PM Rishi Sunak
PM Rishi Sunak
Alessandra Benedetti - Corbis via Getty Images

The government did not get an easy ride after posting about its plan to improve roads in London... using money from the abandoned northern leg of HS2.

Yes, a project primarily meant to improve transport in the north of England, is now being used to boost the roads in the UK’s capital in the south-east.

The Department for Transport posted on X (formerly Twitter) on Wednesday, confirming that they were offering “funding for each London borough to ensure millions of road users enjoy smoother and safer journeys”.

It added: “This is only possible due to £8.3 billion of extra investment from redirected HS2 funding, enough to resurface up to 5,000 miles of roads across the country.”

The attached graphic explained £235 million was going towards it – and even included a logo to signify this is a Network North project, too.

We've confirmed funding for each London borough to ensure millions of road users enjoy smoother and safer journeys.

This is only possible due to £8.3 billion of extra investment from redirected HS2 funding, enough to resurface up to 5,000 miles of roads across the country. pic.twitter.com/5JUlQJMsK9

— Department for Transport (@transportgovuk) December 20, 2023

PM Rishi Sunak announced that he was axing the Birmingham to Manchester leg of the highly anticipated high speed rail (HS2) in October.

He said it would save £36 billion and the funding would be redirected to dozens of smaller transport projects – in the north of England.

At the Tory conference in Manchester, he said: “I am cancelling the rest of the HS2 project and in its place we will re-invest every single penny – £36 billion in hundreds of new transport projects in the north and the Midlands across the country.”

Sunak claimed a new “Network North” project would boost transport links and reduce travel times to towns and cities across the country.

it was deeply controversial, and even former Tory PMs like Boris Johnson and David Cameron – since appointed as Sunak’s foreign secretary – slammed the move.

So you can imagine how X users responded when the government seemingly confirmed some of that money was apparently going to London in its new graphic....

The roads in the North watching you spend £235m in London pic.twitter.com/emoiMSr693

— Adam Vjestica (@ItsMrProducts) December 20, 2023

"£235 million for London roads
A NETWORK NORTH Project"

News just now from @transportgovuk

Can someone send them a map? https://t.co/ZoWQENBD3A

— Carol Vorderman (@carolvorders) December 20, 2023

Great to see the rural northern village of London finally getting the levelling up funding it deserves... https://t.co/bGWO04FiaQ

— Tim Farron (@timfarron) December 20, 2023

The logo in the bottom left is perfect. What a joke

— MrPulse - Darren (@mrpulsef1) December 20, 2023

[bragging]
we’re levelling up the north
[later]
we’re cancelling HS2
[later, still bragging for some reason]
we’re spending that HS2 money on London https://t.co/IwOiPlvk7E

— James Felton (@JimMFelton) December 20, 2023

Does anybody know what that bit in the bottom left corner says, I can't quite make it out https://t.co/vl6zIQcRQr

— Lucy Watson (@Lucywwatson) December 20, 2023

The North are gonna love this https://t.co/ENPcV48S80

— Ava-Santina (@AvaSantina) December 20, 2023

This sort of thing makes life very difficult for satirists. https://t.co/gec9bIR8FV

— Robert Hutton (@RobDotHutton) December 20, 2023

Hey, Northerners! We’ve got some great news for you! Instead of building High Speed Rail to Manchester we’re filling in potholes in London! Woohoo! #levellingupisgreat https://t.co/PkZBxmOtdd

— Tom McTague (@TomMcTague) December 20, 2023

they're not even pretending to be good at their jobs anymore https://t.co/VPn5C7xzeg

— PoliticsJOE (@PoliticsJOE_UK) December 20, 2023
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