Darling: No funding for Liverpool tram

Transport Secretary Alistair Darling has announced that the Government will not provide funding for Liverpool’s new tram system.

He said that the cost of the line had risen from £225 million to £325 million in just three years and the Government was not prepared to support the scheme at any cost.

The scheme’s backers are now expected to travel to London to try and find a way around the impasse.

The grounding of the scheme is a blow to business and politicians in Liverpool – particularly after the city was designated the European Capital of Culture 2008.