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Fears grew today that the Tories will slam the brakes on Crossrail if they win power after their transport spokeswoman Theresa Villiers was ominously silent on the landmark project.
London business chiefs have been lobbying senior Tories at the annual rally in Manchester to give an indication of their commitment to the £16 billion cross-London rail scheme.
But in her speech, Ms Villiers pointedly failed to mention it despite promising to make commuters' journeys easier and addressing other transport issues such as highlighting Tory opposition to a third runway at Heathrow. Her silence came just 24 hours after Mayor Boris Johnson told the party faithful how important Crossrail is.
City Hall sources are increasingly concerned that the Tory leadership is not giving Crossrail whole-hearted backing.
Rival MPs also seized on Ms Villiers' decision to remain silent on the key rail project.
Transport minister Sadiq Khan said: “Her failure to mention Crossrail is a real threat to this critical transport upgrade and it should worry Londoners.”
Lib-Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker added: “She did not mention it because she did not dare.
“The Tories are divided, with Boris gung ho on one side and Cameron and Osborne desperate to ditch the project.”
At a fringe meeting last night, Stuart Fraser, chairman of the policy committee of the City of London Corporation, also voiced concerns. He said. “I would certainly like an assurance as we had from [Transport Secretary] Lord Adonis that there was a commitment to this project.”
At the same event on the City, shadow business secretary Ken Clarke refused to give this, saying: “We can't go around giving absolute cast-iron guarantees. Every major project is going to have to be reviewed.” A Tory spokesman said: “Crossrail is an important piece of infrastructure. That is why we backed it. Our position has not changed.”
