The North is being asked to go 'cap in hand to a group of masters' in Westminster for cash, MP Lisa Nandy says

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

Lisa Nandy has slammed the government's levelling up strategy, likening it to a feudal system in which the north has to go 'cap in hand to a group of masters' in Westminster 'who determine what happens in our own lives and our community'.

The Wigan MP spoke passionately about how levelling up was a 'personal' mission to her, as she accused Chancellor Rishi Sunak of prioritising London and the south east for cash.

Her comments come a week after the long awaited levelling up white paper was unveiled by Michael Gove, with promises to end regional inequality and the north south divide. Read more: Andy Burnham blasts Tory MPs' suggestion that Manchester 'should be grateful' for scaled-back rail plans Ms Nandy was unconvinced by the plan however, she told the Northern Agenda podcast: "I think my frustration with Michael Gove is that although he is talking the right language, he knows that he can't deliver, he's hit a real roadblock at the Treasury." "I think the central problem is that fundamentally, Rishi Sunak does not believe that most regions of the UK have the ability to contribute to our economic future", she added. "I think he believes firmly that London and the south east is the economic powerhouse, it will remain the economic powerhouse of this country and therefore anything that is given to other regions is given only in terms of ameliorating some of the problems and helping to sustain the Tory majority in Parliament." Ms Nandy pointed to comments made by Mr Sunak's aide, Tim Leunig, who claimed that workers in northern towns should 'accept lower wages' to compete with the South because 'London is London'. "I think what they fundamentally don't understand is that within living memory, places Barnsley and Wigan