IN the run up to the recent General Election we heard much talk about the Northern Powerhouse.

This week the Government has announced that Consett Magistrates Court, Morpeth County Court and Hartlepool Magistrates and County Court will close. This is on top of the previous closure of Courts such as Langbaurgh East and Tynedale.

Police budget cuts continue to bite hard with many front line services being cut across the North-East whilst simultaneously crime has risen significantly in many areas of the region (22 per cent in the Cleveland policing area). Is this what David Cameron and his Conservative colleagues meant by the Northern Powerhouse in the run up to the election?

Powerhouse? All I see is yet more cuts and underinvestment, no matter how many press releases they send out, it seems that the North-East simply is not a priority for the Westminster elite.

Jonathan Arnott MEP, Ukip North-East.