Delayed Great British Railways’ first station to open at Cambridge South in June
The delayed Cambridge South station will finally open in late June – and become the first station to be given full Great British Railways branding, the government has announced.The station sits beside the city’s Biomedical Campus, Europe’s largest medical research centre, and will connect it with direct trains to London, Brighton and Stansted airport, as well as up to nine trains an hour to the centre of Cambridge itself.Services will begin calling at Cambridge South on Sunday 28 June, the Department for Transport said, with 1.8 million passengers expected annually.The DfT said the adjacent Biomedical Campus was forecast to contribute £18.
2bn to the UK economy by 2050, with employees likely to double to 40,000, boosted in part by the new transport links.The station, the city’s third, was supposed to open in 2025 but was delayed, partly due to the collapse of a contractor responsible for fitting out the electrics.The rail minister, Peter Hendy, said Cambridge South, which was built with £250m of government investment and a small private sector contribution, would “open up access to jobs, homes and world-class facilities for people across the region, boosting the growth of the Biomedical Campus as one of the most important engines of growth in the country”.He added: “As the first new Great British Railways branded station, the opening is an important milestone for our railways and a sign of the real change public ownership will deliver.”Jeremy Westlake, chief executive for Network Rail, said the station would “significantly improve travel and connectivity for campus staff, visitors, and the wider community for many years to come”.
He added: “Thousands of people have worked tirelessly on this fantastic project to build a modern, accessible and sustainable station that reflects the excellence of the work that is being undertaken in Europe’s largest biomedical facility.”The station’s permanent signage will be in GBR brand colours – a design drawn up by a small group of ministers and advisers within the DfT to save money, with uncertain results.The station will also be displaying the more professionally acclaimed new Railway Clock.It will also eventually serve the East West Rail line which is being built across to Oxford, although the delayed start of initial services between Milton Keynes and Oxford and uncertainty about the exact route are likely to mean direct trains between the two university cities will not start in 2030 as hoped.Meanwhile, HS2 Ltd has announced contracts to develop the high-speed railway’s control centre and rolling stock depot in Birmingham.
It said the new hub at Washwood Heath, to be built under an £856m contract won by a joint venture of Taylor Woodrow and Aureos Rail, would support more than 1,000 jobs.The contract award was assessed by an independent review panel, as the government and HS2 attempt to ensure efficient delivery and costs on the project, whose overall budget is being reassessed.Hendy said it was another milestone in getting HS2 back on track, and that the railway would “create thousands of jobs across the West Midlands – from the construction teams transforming this former industrial site, to the skilled workforce who will operate this state-of-the-art facility for decades to come.”
Seven people barred from coming to UK for far-right rally
Seven people hoping to attend a far-right rally in central London on Saturday have been blocked from entering the country by the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood.Keir Starmer, the prime minister, promised on Monday to block “far-right agitators” hoping to attend the Unite the Kingdom event on 16 May organised by Tommy Robinson, whose real name is Stephen Yaxley-Lennon.Joey Mannarino, a US-based commentator, and Valentina Gomez, a Maga influencer, had their authorisation to enter the UK withdrawn on the grounds that their presence “would not be conducive to the public good”. The identities of the other five banned people are not known.In a speech aimed at resetting his premiership, Starmer said he would ban extremists from coming to Britain to speak at the nationalist march on Saturday
Catherine West backs down from Starmer challenge but urges him to go by September
Catherine West, the Labour MP who announced a challenge to Keir Starmer’s leadership, has changed course to say she instead wants the prime minister to set a timetable of September for his departure.West, the MP for Hornsey and Friern Barnet and a former Foreign Office minister, announced on Saturday that she would seek to gather the 81 Labour MPs’ names needed to formally challenge Starmer, saying this was just a device to tempt others to stand and that she did not wish to take over.In a statement released after Starmer’s speech on Monday morning in which he said he would fight on despite terrible results for Labour in elections last week, West called for an orderly process for Starmer to depart. She said: “I have listened to the prime minister’s speech this morning. I welcome the renewed energy and ideas
What did Keir Starmer say in ‘last chance’ speech to save his premiership?
Keir Starmer’s speech and press conference on Monday morning was almost universally billed as his final chance to save his premiership. Was it enough? And what – if anything – did he actually offer?This is a line that could have appeared in any Starmer speech of the last 12 months, but this time a lot of Labour MPs would have wanted something new and substantial in policy terms to back it. And there was not.Yes, there was a lot of passion, and a lot of talk about fighting on. But the only policy offerings were either not new – a youth experience scheme as part of a reset with the EU – or already effectively the case, as with the announcement that British Steel will be nationalised
Starmer vows to prove doubters wrong as he tries to ward off leadership challenge
Keir Starmer has said he will prove his doubters wrong as he warned Labour was facing “very dangerous opponents” in a make-or-break speech, with leadership rivals on the brink of a challenge.Starmer said he would fight any leadership challenge and would not walk away from his responsibilities as prime minister.He promised he would seek a new deal with the EU including a sweeping youth mobility scheme, as well as nationalising British steel and promising a beefed-up youth guarantee of jobs and apprenticeships.But he warned his critics in the party they risked opening the door to Nigel Farage’s Reform UK party and said it was time to take a more robust approach to the right.“We are not just facing dangerous times, but dangerous opponents, very dangerous opponents,” he said, saying Labour was the last defence against the country heading down a “very dark path”
Starmer faces fight to survive as Streeting and Rayner eye leadership bids
Keir Starmer faces a fight for his political life in the next 24 hours as potential Labour leadership rivals, from Wes Streeting to Angela Rayner, begin positioning themselves for a contest.Starmer is hoping to save his job on Monday with a speech promising to “face up to the big challenges” for the country on growth, energy, defence and Europe.However, his prospects of staying in No 10 appeared to be fading on Sunday after about 40 Labour MPs called for him to set a date to step down, including many backers of the Greater Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, who hope to pressure the prime minister into resigning.Leadership contenders were circling after a disastrous set of local election results in which the party lost support to Reform UK and the Greens. One ally of Streeting said: “Wes isn’t going to challenge Keir but he is preparing in case it all falls apart
Who are the main threats to Keir Starmer’s Labour leadership?
Keir Starmer has long been dogged by leadership rivals – despite only having won a huge majority two years ago. He insists there is no vacancy, and that he will fight on in No 10, seeking a second five-year term and a decade in the job. However, the various contenders to replace him have been organising for some time.Many others may consider throwing their hats into the ring if the contest opened up – from the home secretary, Shabana Mahmood, and the education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, to the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, and the armed forces minister, Al Carns. But here are Starmer’s main threats:Health secretaryThe health secretary is widely thought to be the most ready for a leadership contest, and the one who stands to gain from a competition right now – given Andy Burnham is not an MP and Angela Rayner still has an unresolved tax problem
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