The Prime Minister specifically said that the Eastern Leg would be built.I'm not sure "promised" is a valid word.
But then he also specifically said that the 'triple lock' on state pensions would be maintained, that national insurance rates wouldn't rise and that the foreign aid budget would maintain it's 0.7% of GNI floor. He also very specifically promised a number of other items which just aren't happening like "40 new hospitals" and so on.
Indeed. A high speed railway to Leeds has been trailed for a decade and a lot of planning (and more!) has been done on that basis.The concept you need to consider is 'expectation management', if you promise something really big and everyone gets excited about it, if you then come back having changed your mind and say you're actually going to provide a lot, lot less, and much of that isn't coming until long into the future, then people are disappointed and get upset. It's quite a simple thing to understand really.
Over the next 15 years the North and Midlands are getting an electrification programme and a few upgrades to the ECML. It isn't getting the HS2 link to Leeds it expected, it isn't getting a high speed link across the Pennines it expected, it's getting some upgrades of existing lines and most of those are phased from 2035 to 2040 or beyond, so far in the future as to be uncertain of whether they will ever be delivered.
Now there is to be no high speed railway to Leeds. Or indeed to anywhere nearby. At all.