The easiest manifesto pledge to honour - Conservatives promise upgrade to A11

(Left) Prime Minister David Cameron, (Right) The new dualled A11. Archant

They are often accused by voters of forgetting their promises and then not keeping them. But it appears the Conservative Party may well have come up with a solution: by pledging something they have already accomplished.

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They are often accused by voters of forgetting their promises and then not keeping them.

But it appears the Conservative Party may well have come up with a solution: by pledging something they have already accomplished.

The Tory election manifesto, released today, contained an eye-catching promise to “upgrade the A11” – something the party, with their Lib Dem Coalition allies, can safely claim to have done already.

The final dualled stretch of the route was opened less than five months ago, by Patrick McLoughlin, the Transport Secretary – while the Prime Minister himself wrote an article for this newspaper celebrating the achievement.

According to a spokesman for Matthew Hancock, the business minister and West Suffolk Conservative candidate, the manifesto reference was to the work that had already been done.

But a Conservative spokesman later said that the reference also referred to future work as part of an upgrade to the A47.

“We are committed to delivering a multi-million-pound improvement to the A11/A47 interchange, on top of the major upgrade to the A11 that has already taken place in this parliament,” he said.

Under a heading in the 83-page election dossier “We will properly connect the East of England and back innovation”, the Conservatives said: “We will improve rail connections to East Anglia, delivering ‘Norwich in 90 minutes’ and ‘Ipswich in 60 minutes’ and upgrade key roads like the A11 and A47.

“We will support the creation of new jobs by backing the East’s great strengths – agri-tech, high-tech businesses around Cambridge, and energy businesses at Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft.”

Labour’s candidate for Norwich North, Jessica Asato, said: “It’s desperate when the Tories start announcing manifesto pledges for things which have already been delivered.”

Do you have an election story? Email Annabelle Dickson at annabelle.dickson@archant.co.uk