Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
We’ll spread the power...
It was telling that Labour and the Tories both chose Yorkshire to launch their manifestos.
Jeremy Corbyn set out his stall at the University of Bradford, whose first Chancellor was the then Prime Minister Harold Wilson. Theresa May chose a former mill factory in Halifax.
Under seven years of Tory rule, the North has been ignored.
As I’ve said before, there are more people living in the North than Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. But we get nowhere near the resources or powers we need to unlock our economic potential.
Labour is on the right track by promising a Bank of the North to fund investment across the region. And Labour’s Crossrail for
As I’m going back on my battle bus to campaign for Labour, I’ve bought a mascot. In 1997, when I was known by Blair as Thumper, I bought a rabbit. In 2001, I had a toy bulldog. This time, because May wants to bring back hunting, I’ve bought
a fox!
the North – a proper East to West link between Liverpool, Hull and on to Newcastle – would also be far more effective than HS2.
Labour has promised a constitutional convention to see how English regions can get the same powers and resources as the devolved parliament and assemblies in Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast. This will be vital after Brexit as the English could be the hardest hit. Gordon Brown and I are on Labour’s devolution taskforce to look into how we can give more power to the people.
Labour’s manifesto commitment to scrap the House of Lords and replace it with a Senate of the Nations and Regions is spot on. As is giving 16 and 17-yearolds the chance to vote. If you can fight for your country, you should at least be allowed to change its government.
So I’ll be touring the country, making the case to spread power and resources to every part of the United Kingdom.