MPs who form the Northern Policy Foundation thinktank, set up last month to help Boris Johnson "rebuild and reshape the North", have urged Rishi Sunak to use his knowledge as a Yorkshire MP to drive the recovery measures he expected to announce tomorrow to pull the country back from the pandemic.

The letter, signed by Don Valley MP Nick Fletcher and Wakefield MP Imran Ahmad Khan amongst others, sets out a five-point “new deal” for the North.

And Northern Policy Foundation director Tom Lees warned the situation where the North had been “overlooked, ignored, and felt unloved [...] needs to change”.

He said: “Levelling-up the country is essential to the UK’s future success and prosperity. The Northern Policy Foundation has set out five pragmatic policy proposals we want the

Government to consider as it sets out the next steps of its post-COVID recovery plans, New Deal and Local Growth White Paper.

“This is a golden opportunity to address some of the long-standing structural challenges the North faces and we urge the Chancellor to seriously consider our proposals.”

The suggestions include a shake up of the traditional enterprise model to introduce “bounce back opportunity zones”, a northern opportunity fund to focus on developing science, research, innovation and high skills, and a northern skills bank to upskill and retrain workers.

They also call for an acceleration of northern infrastructure plans to deliver benefits sooner, and an overhaul of £255bn of public procurement to create jobs and level up.

They said a lower share of research and development and infrastructure spending, for example, has meant the newer, innovation-focused jobs and businesses that will increasingly define the UK’s future prospects are lacking in the North.

In the letter, the group said: “As a fellow Northern MP you know well the issues we face: poor research and development intensity, lacklustre connectivity, below average productivity and fewer high-knowledge high-value added jobs.”

Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland and NPF member said: “Re-building and levelling up the North has never been more important.

“Despite the challenges this year has thrown at us, we still have an excellent opportunity to improve local economies and prospects for people here in the North.

“In particular, investment in research and innovation is critical to boosting wages, opportunity and life chances. That’s why the Northern Policy Foundation is asking the Chancellor to consider creating a Northern Opportunity Fund to focus investment where it is needed most.”

Chancellor urged by Northern Tory MPs to overturn historic under-investment in coronavirus recovery