Work on Peterborough station quarter could start in August
While visiting the station, Alexander said the site felt like it had its "back turned" on the rest of the city. She hoped funding would unlock the opportunity for people to spend more time in the city.Following Bristow's concerns about a lack of action on the plans, she said the previous government had made "a lot of promises about investment in public transport infrastructure but didn't have a spending review that went beyond 2024"."We have secured that money," Alexander said. "What I'm doing here today is to talk to local leaders about how they're gonna realise ambitions for Peterborough and the city as a whole, and understanding what the next steps are so the project is delivered as soon as possible."
The whole project was expected to cost £65m.Nearly £48m of this was expected to come from the government's Levelling Up Fund, with the rest coming from Peterborough City Council's Towns Fund money and other partners like Network Rail.On 13 May, the government approved the plans for a station quarter with a new railway station entrance, pedestrianised square and multi-storey car park.Pakes said: "I'm really hopeful we will see the hoardings going up in August and work beginning to start. "It's going to take two years for a transformation of this size, but I know people are impatient for change and want to see spades in the ground and work beginning."Bristow said as mayor he was determined to keep the project on track as it was a "vital and overdue opportunity" to help regenerate Peterborough, and "people now rightly expect to see progress". "The funding for Peterborough Station Quarter was first announced two years ago," he added."Although it was welcome to have that money confirmed last week, the time for announcements is long past. We need delivery, and spades should be in the ground later this year."Furthermore, I sincerely hope that no taxpayers' money was used to facilitate what has been confirmed to be a party political event."Colette Casey, customer experience director at train operator LNER, said nearly five million people used the station.She said the works, including new entrances, would make it easier to move around the station and prevent the "bottleneck that we sometimes see".
Follow Peterborough news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Guardian
41 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
PM takes blame for welfare U-turn as he gives full backing to Chancellor
Speaking to the BBC in his first interview since a threatened backbench revolt forced him to strip out a major part of his welfare reform plan, he acknowledged the past few days had been 'tough'. He said: 'Labour MPs are absolutely vested in this. It matters to them to get things like this right, and we didn't get that process right. We didn't engage in the way that we should have done.' But he insisted his Government would 'come through it stronger' as he vowed to 'reflect' on what needed to be done 'to ensure we don't get into a situation like that again'. Sir Keir also gave his full support to Chancellor Rachel Reeves after she was seen crying during Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday. Ms Reeves's visibly tearful appearance in the Commons came amid speculation that her job was at risk after the welfare U-turn put an almost £5 billion hole in her spending plans. But the Prime Minister insisted her appearance had 'nothing to do with politics, nothing to do with what's happened this week' and was 'a personal matter'. Asked if she would remain in her post, he said: 'She will be Chancellor for a very long time to come, because this project that we've been working on to change the Labour Party, to win the election, change the country, that is a project which the Chancellor and I've been working on together.' On Thursday morning, Health Secretary Wes Streeting said Ms Reeves would 'bounce back' as he praised her 'leadership' on the economy. He also dismissed a suggestion that Sir Keir himself could be at risk, telling Sky News: 'Keir Starmer has been consistently underestimated. 'I wonder when people will learn. They said he couldn't win the Labour leadership, but he did. They said he couldn't change the Labour Party, but he did. They said he couldn't take the Labour Party from its worst defeat since the 1930s to election victory last year, and he did. 'And now the cynics say he can't change the country, but he will.' But Conservative shadow chancellor Sir Mel Stride said the scenes in the Commons over the past week had left bond markets 'twitchy' about the Government and 'their ability to actually grip things like spending going forward'. Appearing on BBC Breakfast, Sir Mel appeared to distance himself from Robert Jenrick, who had earlier posted a video on social media describing Ms Reeves's career as 'dead'. But he added that Mr Jenrick was making a 'valid' point that the Government had 'lost control of the economy', laying the blame with the Chancellor and Sir Keir and warning of tax rises to come.
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
MP votes for benefits reform insisting Lanarkshire constituents won't receive less money
Only four Labour MPs out of 37 in Scotland voted against the watered-down Bill despite a revolt Pamela Nash MP backed Keir Starmer plans to cut benefits for people with disabilities and insisted that constituents in North Lanarkshire won't see any reduction in the amount they receive when the system is reformed. The MP for Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke had previously criticised the Tories when they were in power over cuts to disability support but voted in favour of her own party's Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill at the Second Reading, which she believes will create a fairer benefits system. A revolt in the party led to 49 Labour MPs voting against the motion but it had threatened to be many more as the government made a number of eleventh hour adjustments to gain support for the Bill. Only four Labour MPs out of 37 in Scotland voted against the watered-down Bill following a five-hour debate in the House of Commons. Brian Leishman MP for Alloa and Grangemouth was one of the four who voted against, he had labelled the Bill "shameful". He added: 'I did not come into politics to impoverish some of the most vulnerable people in society, and I did not join the Labour Party to make life even more difficult for the working class." Eligibility for new PIP (Personal Independence Payment) claimants will change from November 2026, but this won't apply to people in Scotland, as PIP here has been replaced by the Adult Disability Payment which has been protected by the Scottish Government and is delivered by Social Security Scotland. Pamela Nash MP cited her own experiences of being a benefits claimant, saying: 'I know what it is like to live on benefits, the unrelenting stress of trying to make ends meet while trying to find a job. Living with a health condition or disability brings additional pressures. 'It is important to me that these reforms do not add to this stress but alleviate it. 'Labour MPs have worked tirelessly together to make significant improvements to the bill, including making sure that no current claimants of PIP or Universal Credit will have their benefits cut, and bringing forward and increasing the support to provide genuine help for people to get the correct skills and find suitable work. 'This is a bill that takes action to improve our broken benefit system. But I know that there will be many who are worried as there has been much coverage in the media of this bill, and much misinformation spread too. 'Let's be crystal clear - no one currently in receipt of benefits in Motherwell, Wishaw and Carluke will see any reduction in the amount they receive as a result of this bill. 'Changes to Universal Credit will only apply to new claimants from April 2026, those currently in receipt of Universal Credit will see no reduction to their income. 'Changes to PIP do not apply to people in Scotland, as we now have a different, equivalent benefit called the Adult Disability Payment (ADP).' However, the Lanarkshire MP highlighted that the Bill includes an above-inflation rise to Universal Credit and an investment of £2.2 billion over four years on health, skills and work support. She continued: 'Welfare exists to provide a safety net for all of us for the times when life does not go to plan, when we are out of work or unable to work. 'But over the last few years it has been failing to achieve this. Benefits paid to jobseekers are not enough to live on, and people who can work go on to disability benefits with fewer and fewer prospects of ever coming off them. 'The reforms to Universal Credit this Labour Government has put forward will take steps to fix this.' And did you know Lanarkshire Live had its own app? Download yours for free here.
New Statesman
an hour ago
- New Statesman
It's time for Starmer and Reeves to embrace the soft left
Photo byThe pictures of a distraught Rachel Reeves on the government benches during Prime Ministers Questions will cruelly and unfairly (for the Chancellor had had a personal shock before entering the chamber) come to symbolise the disarray of Keir Starmer's government less than a year into office. Despite a landslide majority, and a previously iron parliamentary discipline inherited from last year's election campaign, Keir Starmer has had to u-turn twice within a week to stave off backbench revolt against his flagship welfare reform legislation. And the truth is that this humiliation has been better than the alternative which would have been putting the unamended legislation to the vote in the House of Commons to see it defeated – as it inevitably would have. A retreat allows Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to live to fight another day. A defeat would have shattered their political authority jointly and severally – for make no mistake this government's economic management is a combined political endeavour, seen as that by voters and money markets alike. For all the feverish talk in parliamentary lobbies, Rachel Reeves really is 'going nowhere' as No 10 has said. Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are bound together – as prime ministers and chancellors inevitably are. As are the entirety of the current cabinet because in this is a case where the discipline of collective responsibility really bites. Just as in 'Murder on the Orient Express' they all had a hand in this. They all agreed to plans to cut disability benefits by some £5bn a year, and simple arithmetic tells you that amounts to a cut of at least £1000 a year for a million people or, as in this case £4500 a year for nearly a million people with disabilities. Big numbers require big cuts which always means big pain. So, if Cabinet members are seeking advantage and briefing against the Chancellor they should remember: 'First they came for the Winter Fuel Payment, and I did not speak out for I was not a pensioner. Then they came for Personal Independence Payments and I did not speak out…'. We are nearly a year into the rigors of government, so all members of Labour's leadership need to shape up or the voters will ship them out. What are the lessons for Labour? The obvious one is that like so many political problems the issue is the policy not the communications. If you can't explain why you are doing something then just don't do it. There was not a single argument mounted for cutting Personal Independence Payments (PIP) despite ministers repeating the mantra that there was a moral case for the cuts. Subscribe to The New Statesman today from only £8.99 per month Subscribe So, what was the underlying case for change? Logically, it can't have been to do with work incentives as it's an in-work benefit. And it's not driven by public opinion. Luke Tryl at More in Common says people were disgusted when they heard the details of the cuts and who suffers. These cuts aren't even popular with the 'hero' voters of the Red Wall – not least because there are a higher proportion of PIP concentrated in Red Wall areas. According to those who campaigned in Doncaster in May it nearly cost them the mayoralty – only Labour's world class field operations saved the day. Like so many other errors in politics, this was a demonstration of the folly of defending the indefensible – and doing that for far too long. The less obvious point is that it's time for both Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves to embrace the 'soft left' part of the government's agenda and to become associated with it. Because that's the truly popular part of what Labour is doing – but it's buried as though Labour are ashamed. When focus groups are told that the National Living Wage is now two-thirds of median earnings they are surprised but pleased. The same goes for the extension of workers' rights and renters' rights. The bitter irony is that it's only the most unpopular things that the Labour government are doing which get any coverage in the media. The truly popular things Labour is doing are being done by stealth. If I were advising Keir and Rachel on a reset, I'd say 'Just go for it! Use the power of government to intervene for the public good. Call up Thames Water and tell them you accept that they can't carry on doing business under the current regulatory machine. And that's why you're nationalising them. You'll get a bargain basement asset that can generate you a return. And you'll show the voters that you get it – what counts is what's most social democratic!' [See more: Is Keir Starmer turning into Harold Wilson?] Related
