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By ROB PARSONS - July 29 2022
Liz Truss was touring a broadband interchange company in Leeds this morning ahead of tonight's head-to-head with Rishi Sunak in the first official hustings to help Tory members decide the next Prime Minister.
And on her return to the city where she was educated (and *sarcasm alert* apparently narrowly escaped a descent into poverty as her fellow pupils were "let down" by the local Roundhay school) the leadership frontrunner hopes she's found a winning connection with Northern voters.
As this newsletter revealed last night, the Foreign Secretary is planning a major government U-turn on the Northern Powerhouse Rail project connecting the great cities of the North if she reaches Number 10.
Rather than proceeding with the cut-price version of the route unveiled in last year's Integrated Rail Plan, with the new Leeds-Manchester high speed line promised by Boris Johnson in 2019 now scaled back, she wants to pursue the more expensive 'full fat' vision set out by Northern leaders.
Ms Truss told Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue: "We will build the Northern Powerhouse Rail to link up communities and unlock potential across the North. That’s how we will bring better jobs to the North and address productivity.”
All of which puts her leadership rival, North Yorkshire MP Mr Sunak, in a tight spot. As Chancellor his department was widely thought to have been behind the less ambitious version of Northern Powerhouse Rail being pursued.
Both he and Ms Truss supported pledges put forward by Tees Valley mayor Ben Houchen including building NPR in full. But in his own words Mr Sunak said only that he would "work with local leaders on the future of transport investments, including Northern Powerhouse Rail", a much more vague commitment.
On her visit this morning Ms Truss told reporters she was committing to Northern Powerhouse Rail but wouldn't do the same for the axed Eastern leg of HS2 to Leeds.
And she added: "I will immediately, upon becoming Prime Minister, work with my new Transport Secretary, bring all the local groups together – the councils, the mayor, the MPs to create the plan to move forward with this really import project, but I’m clear it is absolutely crucial for the future of the North of England.”
Asked whether Rishi Sunak was as committed to the project, she said: “The thing about me is I’m prepared to take on the Whitehall orthodoxy, I’m prepared to challenge the groupthink that has, over decades, not put enough investment into this part of the country. I’m the person who can challenge Whitehall to get on with it and really deliver over the next decade.”
It came after mayors from across the North last night wrote to Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak urging whoever ends up as Prime Minister to meet them and re-think the Government's cut-price rail plan for the region.
In a letter first revealed by The Northern Agenda, the five Labour mayors raised their concerns about last year's controversial Integrated Rail Plan and called on the winning candidate to meet with them to "agree a better way forward for the North".
Greater Manchester's Andy Burnham, Liverpool City Region's Steve Rotheram, North of Tyne's Jamie Driscoll, West Yorkshire's Tracy Brabin and South Yorkshire's Oliver Coppard wrote: "We remain firmly of the view that this project is critical to unlocking the full potential of the Northern economy in the 21st century and levelling us up with the South.
"What has been put forward in IRP falls far short, cuts Bradford out completely and does not deliver on the promises the Conservative Party has made to the North of England."
Both candidates today made their pitch to the North, pledging extra cash for schools and transport and the devolution of more powers to local leaders if they win the race to Number 10.
Newspapers across the North, led by this newsletter, united this week to warn Sunak and Truss not to "turn their back" on the region once in Downing Street, amid fears that Boris Johnson's levelling up agenda is set to be junked.
The candidates, along with Labour's shadow levelling up secretary Lisa Nandy, were invited to answer five key questions facing our region. You can read the full responses from all three here.
All three politicians acknowledged the issues, whether child poverty or low productivity, but there was a varying level of detail when explaining how they would be addressed.
Mr Sunak emphasised the fact he is a Northern MP and said he would "keep the North front centre of my mind in all that I do" if he were to become PM in September. He said he would "double down" on levelling up and identified education as a key area which could boost the region's economy.
Wigan MP Ms Nandy meanwhile outlined Labour’s offer to the region, saying her party in power would invest £280bn over a decade to close the North/South divide.
'Handsome is as handsome does - now we need some action'
Over in Lancashire, local MP Jake Berry is using his role heading the Northern Research Group of backbench Tories to lobby the two candidates to back four 'Northern Agenda' pledges on topics including devolution, funding, education and having a Minister for the North.
Both Sunak and Truss have signed the pledges, but is that enough? Not according to the former Northern Powerhouse Minister, who tells the Northern Agenda podcast the Conservatives only have a 'small window' to persuade 'red wall' voters they were right to reject Labour at the last election.
The Rossendale and Darwen MP, who this morning joined Liz Truss in Leeds after backing her to be PM, praised Rishi Sunak for his work changing the 'green book' formula which the Treasury uses to decide how to spend its money.
But citing a new report by the think-tank IPPR North showing that the funding gap between the North and London actually widened during the pandemic, he said: "Look at the figures, the facts speak for themselves, it hasn't really worked."
Though he said he'd spent time with the two candidates and grilled them about their policies he wanted to hear more on what they'd do for the North, adding: "It's no good just retweeting letters or talking about what you're going to do. Delivery demands action."
And he says: "Because we all understand there's been COVID and there's been problems facing our country. But handsome is as handsome does and talking about things isn't the same as doing them."
Listen to the full podcast here
Also this week on the podcast we hear from Lord Jim O'Neill, the Manchester-born crossbench peer and former chief economist at Goldman Sachs who helped ex-Chancellor George Osborne come up with the Northern Powerhouse project.
He talks about the battle to make the North more productive, the impact of austerity and how Manchester's success can be recreated elsewhere.
'Clear failings' exposed after Liverpool's energy contract blunder
Things are going from bad to worse for troubled Liverpool City Council, whose recently-resigned chief executive Tony Reeves was criticised today for his leadership style in a long-awaited report highlighting 'clear and significant failings' that could cost the city millions of pounds in energy costs.
The report by accountants Mazars found that failings 'at a strategic level' were part of the problems surrounding the extension of the council's major electricity contract that came to light earlier this year.
As Liam Thorp reports for the Liverpool Echo, a litany of errors led to the council's cabinet signing off on an extension to its electricity contract with Scottish Power at a meeting on March 4 this year, despite the firm having already withdrawn from the commercial market. The Labour-run council was placed onto a temporary and far more expensive standard rate.
Meanwhile the lead commissioner at the council has strongly stated that his team will call on the government to significantly increase its control of the authority.
Mike Cunningham currently leads a team of four government-appointed commissioners, installed to oversee the work of key departments at Liverpool Council just over a year ago. Their arrival was triggered by the revelations of a damning inspection that revealed huge failings and mismanagement.
But he told Liam that some areas are still "very problematic", adding: "Our assessment is that the response to the problems has been nowhere near what's required."
Under-fire council chief to walk away with six-figure payout
The controversial chief of a North East council will walk away with a six-figure payout following a protracted and public dispute with leading councillors, despite lingering questions about unlawful expenditure.
Daljit Lally, CEO of Northumberland County Council, will be paid £209,000 to leave her role at the end of July despite the misgivings of several councillors, writes Local Democracy Reporter James Robinson. The cost includes a £75,000 payment to settle an employment tribunal claim for “injury to feelings” and £40,000 on account of “injury or disability.”
It brings to an end a two-year saga that has seen a former council leader toppled, a damning review of governance at the council and the issue of a section 114 notice relating to the unlawful expenditure of tens of thousands of pounds.
As part of the settlement, the council also agreed to waive its right to bring a claim for recovery of the £179,032.09 international allowance not properly authorised and identified as unlawful by the section 114 report.
The council will seek to recover just over £79,000 of the sum from contributions paid to pensions and HMRC, with the remaining £100,000 written off. And both the council and Mrs Lally will cease all action against each other, including employment tribunals and standards cases.
Could heatwaves make glass tower blocks too hot to handle?
Leeds experienced its hottest ever day last Tuesday as temperatures reached 39C. And city leaders are now being asked to consider the possibility of future heatwaves in the way buildings are designed.
Stewart Golton, who leads Leeds' Liberal Democrat group, said glass tower blocks springing up across the heart of the city may become more difficult to live and work in during future hot spells.
Cllr Golton suggested the design of city centre buildings should be carefully considered as the effects of climate change become harsher, writes Local Democracy Reporter David Spereall.
Leeds City Council said it was reviewing its approach to climate change and heatwaves across every area of its service, which includes the planning department where new buildings are either approved or rejected.
Meanwhile plans for a new skyscraper in Manchester which were rejected for being ‘too tall’ could be approved this week as the developer agrees to remove one floor.
The tallest of the buildings planned as part of the 481-apartment scheme off Great Ancoats Street would stand at 33 storeys and feature four fewer flats, as Local Democracy Reporter Joseph Timan writes.
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Northern Stories
A flagship Newcastle project hoping to break the cycle of homelessness in the city has celebrated a successful first 12 months with the opening of a new Zen garden. Elliott House in the West End last year became the first homeless hostel in the UK to be converted into self-contained flats, now known as Bentinck Terrace, with the aim of giving people the personal space they need to recover. Charity Changing Lives says that people with their own front door spend 70% less time in the homelessness system.
A pioneering new community mental health hub which represents a “radical change” in the way people suffering mental distress will be supported is to be trialled in York. The hub, co-designed by people with experience of mental ill health, will be one of the first of its kind in the North. It will aim to change the current mental health system by bringing health, voluntary and community sector organisations together and offering a wide range of services under one roof.
Research using the latest laser imaging technology could be about to rewrite the early history of one of East Lancashire’s key industrial towns. It has always been thought that a medieval village on the banks of the River Brun grew into the market town of Burnley and swallowed up the surrounding estates and hamlets. But a new study shows that the 12th Century Manor House at Ightenhill may well have been as big as its neighbour and just as important in the development of the settlement.
A man living close to a Merseyside dairy has called for a public inquiry after claims milk bottling is causing “unacceptable” noise in the early hours. The resident, David Matthews, made the comments in a written objection to an application submitted by Bates Farm and Dairy to Sefton Council. The Birkdale dairy wants to vary restrictions on bottling times that were put in place following a previous planning application that was given approval last year.
A proposal to build an expansive motorway services area across a North Yorkshire wildlife haven has been unanimously approved by Richmondshire councillors who concluded it was urgently needed due to nearby facilities being at full capacity. The Roadchef scheme on an 11-hectare former quarry site off junction 52 of the A1(M) includes 8,912sq metres of restaurant and cafe floorspace. The firm has said it would pay almost £2m to create wildlife habitats elsewhere to compensate for the impact on fauna and flora in the area.
The vast majority of complaints lodged over East Riding of Yorkshire councillors’ conduct were against one who tweeted a photoshopped picture of Jeremy Corbyn at the Liverpool terror attack. East Riding Council’s yearly summary of complaints made against members showed 520 of the 562 complaints were over the tweet, sent by Paul Nickerson in November. Other complaints included a Molescroft parish councillor alleged to have attempted trespassing, one from Cottingham who allegedly sent disrespectful emails and another from Bishop Wilton accused of bullying.
