‘Powerhouse’ is just a slogan, MPs claim

LABOUR MPS have accused the Chancellor of using the Northern Powerhouse as “a vacuous slogan”.

Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle North) said the model was failing to channel funds to northern infrastructure projects as it was intended to – and suggested things could get worse after Brexit.

Former shadow attorney general Ms McKinnell, inset, said a report from the Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) think tank showed public spending in the north fell by £6.3bn since 2009/10, whereas spending in the south rose by £3.2bn in the same period.

Speaking during Treasury questions, she added: “Does this not demonstrate that the Northern Powerhouse is nothing but a vacuous slogan and what does he assess will be the infrastructure funding available once we leave the EU?”

Chancellor Philip Hammond rejected the figures she had given, claiming they were “consistently given and consistently wrong” and urging her to consult the Infrastructure Projects Authority.

He said: “The problem with the IPPR is it needs to look at central government funding to the regions – when you look at central government funding you will see a very different figure.”

Labour MP Dan Jarvis (Barnsley Central) conceded comparing regional funding was “not a simple matter” but stressed “the criteria used do tend to favour infrastructure development in the south rather than the north”. Mr Jarvis, mayor of the Sheffield City Region, asked Mr Hammond: “What more can the Government do to support major infrastructure development, particularly when it comes to transport projects in the North of England?”