Northern Powerhouse Rail plan delayed again

25/09/2025 37 min
Northern Powerhouse Rail plan delayed again

Listen "Northern Powerhouse Rail plan delayed again"

Episode Synopsis

The government is holding off on announcing plans for high-speed rail across northern England due to concerns over long-term costs, the BBC has learned. The already-delayed announcement of the scheme was expected at next week's Labour Party conference, but that will not now happen. A Labour MP told us the news is "extremely disappointing" and that Britain risked being "left behind comparable nations".

The President of Syria has become the first leader of the country to address the UN General Assembly since 1967. We hear from former CIA director General David Petraeus, who as a general in Iraq had Ahmed al-Sharaa detained for fighting with the insurgency, and now calls himself a "fan".

And 30 years after the BBC adaptation of Pride and Prejudice was released, we look back at its cultural legacy with the man who wrote it and woman who starred in it.