Power Up The North: Hartlepool MP joins campaign for investment in region

Last week, The Northern Echo joined forces with rival publishers to challenge Britain’s main political parties to commit to a package of policy measures to turbo-charge the North’s economy.

• Power Up The North: The Northern Echo joins with the region's publishers calling for investment in the North

The campaign has resulted in more than 30 newspapers calling on the main parties – and those who aspire to lead them – to spell out what they intend to do, and how they will work with others, to narrow the North-South divide.

Hartlepool MP Mike Hill has now thrown his weight behind the campaign, following other North-East politicians including Sedgefield MP Phil Wilson, Darlington MP Jenny Chapman, Redcar MP Anna Turley and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen.

The demands on the Government in the campaign include a bespoke Industrial Strategy, an overhaul the region’s road and rail network, additional investment for schools, a programme to build a new generation of social housing, and a fundamental shift in decision-making out of London.

• Region to 'lose almost £500m' under Government's post-Brexit funding plan

Mr Hill said: "It is clear to me that the Northern Powerhouse project initiated by the former Chancellor George Osborne, has failed to deliver on its promises and that the North continues to be disadvantaged economically compared to London and the South.

"My personal contribution to the fight back and the Power Up the North Campaign is not only to strongly campaign to stabilise vital industries like British Steel, to improve our transport infrastructure and fight for better investment in our places of education, but to set up an All Party Parliamentary Group on Coastal Communities in order to focus minds in Government on long forgotten Seaside Towns like Hartlepool.

"The Power Up the North Campaign is a fantastic initiative and a provides a strong united message to the Government that our region alongside others cannot afford to be neglected any longer. I know we have a Tory Tees Valley Mayor and Combined Authority to help concentrate on drawing down resources, but we need more than that. We need a real shift of emphasis by the Government to properly support and invest in other North, instead of paying it lip service."

A report from Locality published last week found the North-East could lose almost £480m under the Shared Prosperity Fund, the Government's EU funding replacement scheme, compared to London and the South East which will both gain more than £1bn each.