The Northern Powerhouse project has had some successes
ago, Doves Nest Farm, with its drystone walls and views of heather-covered hills, was as idyllic as any in the North York Moors National Park. Now its fields are the site of something less pretty: the first deep mine to be sunk in Britain since the 1970s. A company, Sirius Minerals, is about to dig up the area’s vast underground stash of polyhalite, an ingredient in fertiliser. So as not to wreck the scenery it is constructing a tunnel to carry the stuff all the way to Teesside.
But a big setback came in January when the Treasury’s Infrastructure and Projects Authority reduced a £1.5bn loan guarantee it had extended to Sirius by £600m, to minimise risk to taxpayers. The company will probably still be able to raise the money it needs but the reduction has meant some uncertainty for a landmark project.It was the latest blow for the “Northern Powerhouse”, a concept launched in 2014 by George Osborne, the then chancellor, and Jim O’Neill, an economist.
Before long, however, the Northern Powerhouse suffered a power cut. Following the Brexit referendum of 2016 Mr Osborne left government. Theresa May, the prime minister, showed her disdain for his pet project by appointing a new minister for the Northern Powerhouse, Andrew Percy, but banning him from using the phrase, even on trips to the north. Meanwhile the government started promoting the “Midlands Engine”, a rival regional plan. Brexit then drained attention in Westminster from either scheme.
Nowadays, complains Andy Burnham, the Labour mayor of Greater Manchester, China’s government talks more about the Northern Powerhouse than Britain’s does. China sees northern England as part of its Belt and Road Initiative , a series of infrastructure investments across Eurasia, the Middle East and Africa. Its president, Xi Jinping, has talked about the Northern Powerhouse in descriptions of theNeglect by central government has not quite finished off the Northern Powerhouse, however.
The current minister for the Northern Powerhouse, Jake Berry, has big plans for the coming reboot, such as a new department for the north with powers to levy its own taxes. But there are limits; some ministers see devolution as creating powerful platforms for Labour politicians, says Nick Forbes, Labour leader of Newcastle city council. This year may be the last for the government to act or see the Northern Powerhouse finally run out of juice.
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