THE whole country needs the North to flourish, the Archbishop of York has warned, as he said successive governments seeing London as the economic powerhouse has acted “to suck energy and resources southwards”.

Dr John Sentamu said the capital had become “exceptional” in the sense it was “an exception to the ways of life and economic prospects of the rest of the country”, especially the North.

The Church of England’s second most senior figure stressed the need to “get things right in the North”, otherwise the entire country would become more divided.

Dr Sentamu made his stark assessment during a debate in the House of Lords on the annual State of the North report by the Institute of Public Policy Research North think-tank.

In his speech, the senior cleric said: “The state of the North is important because unless we get things right in the North, the whole country will be more divided, less prosperous and more unhappy. In short, the whole country needs the North to flourish.”

But he added: “Successive governments have seen the city of London as the economic powerhouse and the result has been to suck energy and resources southwards.”

While highlighting warnings over the impact of Brexit on the North, Dr Sentamu pointed out “the status quo before June 23 was not serving the North well”. He added: “Brexit cannot just be about more control for London.”

The Archbishop called for more devolution to the North and argued the need for champions in cabinet.

Opening the debate, Labour peer Baroness Massey of Darwen said the so-called Northern Powerhouse “must not just be a catchy label”.