Give transport bosses in North more powers but kick them out if they fail to deliver, Boris Johnson tells York hustings

Transport bosses in the North should be given more budget raising powers to pay for vital improvements but risk being kicked out of office if they fail, Boris Johnson said last night.

Mr Johnson, the hot favourite to become Prime Minister when Tory members name the party’s new leader later this month, told an audience in York that more accountability was needed for the nation’s railways.

The former Foreign Secretary and his successor Jeremy Hunt were quizzed by Yorkshire Tories over their stances on Brexit and the social care crisis.

And the two leadership rivals stressed their commitment to promoting the North if they became Prime Minister, with both pledging support for the £39bn Northern Powerhouse Rail project that is currently being considered by the Treasury.

LIVE UPDATES: Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt go head-to-head at Tory hustings in York

While Mr Johnson has promised to review the flagship HS2 project connecting London and the North, Mr Hunt defended the controversial scheme, saying it sent a message that wealth was being spread across the country.

In a question and answer session, Mr Johnson said the dominance of the Department for Transport over the rail industry prevented accountability.

He said: “In London everyone knew that I set the fare pots, I set the fares, and I was responsible for time-keeping. I was responsible for the improvements in the tube, or not. People knew that if I failed they would kick me out of office.

“You need political responsibility for these railways and particularly in the North. I think Transport for the North, if it is going to make any sense we should be giving them a budget, saying they should raise some locally but that they should pay the political price for failure to deliver.”

I trust Boris Johnson to deliver for Yorkshire – Rishi Sunak MP

During the event at the Barbican, Mr Hunt suggested he would ease pressure on the social care system by creating incentives for people to look after elderly relatives in the family home.

The Foreign Secretary said there were already 420,000 three-generation households with children, parents and grandparents living under the same roof.

“I am not saying we all want to live with our mother-in-law. But I think that three-generation families are a wonderful thing.”

Mr Johnson acknowledged it will be a “stretch” to meet his latest leadership campaign pledge to boost police numbers by 20,000 within three years.

Show us you care Jeremy Hunt and Boris Johnson over the future of the elderly – The Yorkshire Post says