This column comes from Naz Shah, Labour MP for Bradford West

IT shouldn’t come as a great surprise that the government continues to derail from its own promises and policy objectives, but this latest rail announcement is a shocking betrayal of communities in the north.

In 2019, Mr. Johnson wanted to be the Prime Minister ‘who does’ Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) and, since then he has repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to the NPR, in tandem with ministers who have reassured Bradfordians of their ‘personal commitment’ to a Bradford stop.

The Prime Minister previously stated that there was a ‘very good case’ for the NPR, it seems that my constituents are now being asked to put their faith into a new set of rail plans, which have been drafted by a government who has u-turned 39+ times and has failed to keep its promises.

The new Integrated Rail Plan has been packaged as ‘one of the biggest single acts of levelling up in history’, yet a Bradford stop and an additional line through Bradford is noticeably missing.

So, let me be clear, the government cannot be serious about levelling up the north by abandoning Bradford, the NPR, and the eastern leg of the HS2.

At present, Bradford is the 7th largest city in Britain, the youngest city in Europe and has a population of 530,000. Bradford is also ranked as 2nd most deprived local authority in the Yorkshire and Humber region.

Yet despite being the youngest city in Europe with a significant student population, Bradford is one of the worst connected cities in the country, and like many other cities it is struggling to retain its graduates and high skilled workers, who often find greater opportunities in neighbouring cities like Leeds, Manchester, or London.

It is clear to me, that if the government is to stay true to its levelling up agenda and tackle depravation, it must not fail an entire generation of young people in Bradford by abandoning the NPR with a Bradford stop.

Indeed, it has been claimed by Arup, the engineering giant, that connecting Bradford to the NPR project will deliver a £30bn economic boost to the region within a decade and it will bring 6.7M people to the city, create 27,000 jobs, generate a 10% uplift in land value and will unlock 1.3m additional accessible jobs within 90 minutes of Bradford.

Despite these findings the government insists on abandoning Bradford and continues to devalue Bradford in the national infrastructure.

It is high time that the government recognises the potential Bradford has and what it has already achieved.

The University of Bradford has a considerable student population and has been ranked as one of the Top 20 Universities for Pharmacy, Pharmacology and Chemical Engineering, it has also been ranked Top 10 for Civil Engineering and 1st in England for impact on Social Mobility.

Similarly, Bradford College is one of biggest education and training providers in the region with around 20,000 students studying their vocational and apprenticeship qualifications.

Bradford is also home to one of the largest collections of David Hockney Art, has a world-renowned Literature Festival, was the world’s first UNESCO City of Film, has a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the curry capital of the UK, home to Morrisons and Bradford City AFC, and the list goes on.

Yet despite all this, there isn’t a connecting line through Bradford City.

A Liverpool to Leeds via Manchester and Bradford line would have cost an extra £18 billion and, yet whilst saving £18 billion on the line, the government has lost Bradford alone the opportunity to boost its economy by £30 billion, to regenerate the city and to provide a future in Bradford for our young people.

At present my constituents endure slow, irregular, and inefficient train services and, research confirms that transport funding in Yorkshire is lowest per head, with London getting £413 more funding per person than people in Yorkshire.

The condition of the current services probably explains why 30,000 people commute daily from Bradford to Leeds, 3 times as many people travel by motor vehicle than rail. With 91% of transport emissions coming from road transport vehicles - is this how we meet our COP26 targets?

In addition to the rising cost of train fairs, my constituents have informed me that they endure the highest car insurance premiums in the country, with many young people in inner-city areas enduring the highest premiums.

It is evident that good transport services and trains are to a modern economy what canals were to the industrial revolution. Trains are literally engines that can drive social mobility, economic activity, attract opportunity, investment, and people. It is unforgivable for the government to abandon Bradford; it must begin to value Bradford as a powerhouse.