Powerhouse for the north - or a land of haves and have-nots?

The Prime Minister told business leaders ​at the CBI annual conference in London that there must be investment in infrastructure​ in the North​​ if​ Britain​ is​ to succeed.

“We will continue to complete Crossrail, we will continue the work on HS2. I think the vision of HS3, creating a Northern powerhouse across our country, is extremely powerful,” he said.

But at the same conference, the Archbishop of York warned that Britain was in danger of becoming a country where the haves and have-nots live in separate worlds because of wage inequality,

John Sentamu told business leaders that the test of economic recovery should be the fate of low-paid workers.

“Income inequality is a giant we must slay together,” he said.

Dr Sentamu, who chairs the Living Wage Commission, said he believed most businesses could afford to pay the Living Wage, which is £9.15 an hour in London and £7.85 outside the capital, both well above the £6.50 national minimum wage.

The Archbishop added: “It has become clear that the minimum wage is inadequate, with many people in work suffering increased poverty. Britain is in danger of the haves and have-nots living in separate worlds.”

In his speech, Mr Cameron said he would spend £15​bn​ by the end of the decade on a road-building programme​.

​He outlined plans for​ work on stretches of the A1 north of Newcastle and said the Government is looking at roads across the Pennines and a number of other schemes.

Mr Cameron said that the coalition Government inherited a “weak” position on infrastructure, after the previous Labour administration delivered “the lowest infrastructure investment of any OECD country” between 2000 and 2007.

​​“It would have been very easy as Prime Minister, faced with the decisions I had to take, to cancel Crossrail, to give up on HS2, not to talk about electrification of railways, not to talk about road or energy investment. I rejected that approach.​“

​​He also said that under the last Labour Government that for every 10 jobs created in the south, only one was created in the Midlands and the North.

“We want to rebalance the economy. People say all the recovery is in the South. That’s not true.”

​Mr ​Cameron ​told delegates that​ ​the Government faces five challenges.

The first is to cut the cost of ​G​overnment​, cut ​the deficit​ “and live within our means”.

​He said the second challenge is to make the country more business friendly.

“I want Britain to be the best place to start and expand a business,” he said.

“I need your help,” he told delegates.

“Businesses need to get into schools to encourage people to start businesses.”

​T​he third challenge ​is to get​ Britain back to work.

​“​T​here are still pockets of high unemployment.​​ We need to have proper immigration control,” he said.

​He said the Government is setting a target for three million apprentices in the next parliament.​

​T​he fourth challenge ​is “making sure we have the infrastructure​“, as he reiterated the Government’s commitment to HS2 and HS3.

​Mr Cameron said his fifth priority is​ rebalance the economy and “crucially to sell it to the rest of the world”.

​Both the Labour leader Ed Milliband and deputy prime minister Nick Clegg will be speaking at the conference this afternoon.