内容摘要：The money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West Country.

The money will be spent on tram, train and bus projects in mayoral authorities across the Midlands, the North and the West Country.

Labour reviewed these projects when they came to power in July, arguing they had not been fully funded.Conservative shadow Treasury minister Gareth Davies accused Labour of copying and pasting announcements made by the Conservative government".

Conservative mayor of Tees Valley Ben Houchen said Labour's decision meant projects in his area had been delayed by a year which was "frustrating" but added that he was "absolutely delighted" the funding had now been given the go ahead.North East Mayor Kim McGuinness said the £1.8bn funding for her area was a "game changer", while Liverpool City Region Mayor Steve Rotheram said the investment was a "massive vote of confidence in our region".Liberal Democrat Treasury spokeswoman Daisy Cooper warned the chancellor must now deliver, because "these communities have heard these same promises before, only to be left with phantom transport networks".

She added: "Extra investment in public transport must also focus on cutting fares for hard-pressed families being clobbered by a cost of living crisis."Zoe Billingham, head of the IPPR North think tank, welcomed the investment but said that while money had been provided to lay the tracks there was "still a question about the ongoing running costs" and the extent to which the new transport networks would pay for themselves.

Following the speech Reeves was asked if there would be funding for a new rail link between Manchester and Liverpool.

She replied that there would be "more to come next week" when she delivers her Spending Review.What was the atmosphere like in those last days as the administrators moved in?

"It was pretty grim, we were all called into the lecture theatre and the managing director gave a speech about how the board 'had tried everything'. Then came the unpleasant experience of handing over passes and getting personal items. It was definitely a bad day at the office."This bad day was too much for some. "A few people were in tears. A lot of them were shocked and upset because they'd hoped we could pull it off right up to the end."

It was galling for Mr Varvill "because we were turning it around with an improved engine. Just as we were getting close to succeeding we failed. That's a uniquely British characteristic."Did they follow the traditional path after a mass lay-off and head to the nearest pub? "We had a very large party at my house. Otherwise it would have been pretty awful to have put all that effort into the company and not mark it in some way."