IN a curious twist during yesterday’s visit to Teesport, Prime Minister Boris Johnson was asked about the Government’s new fitness incentiviser, Sir Keith Mills who created the Nectar rewards scheme.

Mr Johnson said: “We’ve got to face the fact that the pandemic has been made worse by the general obesity that our country suffers from. I can speak personally and say that it is something a lot of us have got to think about.

The Northern Echo:

“The way to tackle it is not to make people feel bad about it but to say you will feel better, cheerier, more dynamic if you lose a few pounds.”

When pressed on his own healthy takeaway of choice, he said: “I don’t know. I think a kebab. Is a kebab healthy?”

Mr Sunak said: “May be if it was grilled.”

Mr Johnson, realising he had strayed into dangerous territory, said: “Do you know what I had the other and it was delicious, and you are not going to believe this, it was a vegan hamburger. It was unbelievably good.”

The Northern Echo:

Hundreds of leading Treasury officials will be moving to Darlington in the near future as the Government begins to shift decision-making out of the capital, it was revealed this week.

They will be joined by Government ministers, including the Chancellor himself, and by financial civil servants from three other departments which regularly interact with the Treasury. This will form an “economic campus” which is likely to be based initially at Feethams House once the vaccination programme has finished.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak began to outline the enormity of the move in an interview with The Northern Echo as he was joined on Teesside by Prime Minister Boris Johnson – their double presence reinforcing the perception that the region has done well out of Wednesday’s Budget.

Officials from the business, trade and local government departments will be on the campus.