North holds key to winning on global stage - Clegg

In a speech in Leeds on the eve of the start of the Tour de France which will see millions around the world watch Yorkshire on television, the Deputy Prime Minister will call for the North to come up with its own ideas on how its cities can work together better and become a serious economic player internationally.

Mr Clegg will confirm that the first of the Government’s growth deals - where Yorkshire is hoping to secure key powers alongside hundreds of millions of pounds for transport, skills and business help - will be announced on Monday.

He will also give his backing to the idea of a transpennine high speed rail link - dubbed HS3 - floated by the Chancellor last week.

But the Sheffield Hallam MP will argue that local economic plans and proposals to improve transport links, while important, are not enough and a bigger vision for North is needed.

Launching the Northern Futures Project to collect proposals from the public, business, universities, councils and others, Mr Clegg will say “the best ideas aren’t going to come from Whitehall.

“Nobody knows more about what local economies need than the people who actually live and work day in and day out in the communities themselves.

“How do we build on the strengths in the North to create an economic core in the heart of the region that can compete with the biggest cities and regions in the world?”

Speaking to The Yorkshire Post ahead of his speech, Mr Clegg said: “Much though I enjoy a bit of good humoured rivalry between Sheffield, Leeds and Manchester we’ve got to realise we are in the same boat here, that the more we work together the more we do for everybody.

“Whilst I feel as strongly as anybody else about the tendency for everybody in Whitehall to worry about growth in the City of London and the South-East and not enough about the north we’ve got to understand the race is now on where we are going to be measured against Frankfurt, Lyon, Bangalore, Chengdu.”

The council chief executives of Leeds and Sheffield as well as other key figures from the North and significant economic thinkers have already agreed to take part in the initiative which will end with a conference in the autumn.

Details of an investment by a French company creating 300 jobs are expected to be announced at The Grand Depart International Business Festival today.

And the Deputy Prime Minister will confirm in his speech the Government is seriously considering shifting the proposed high speed rail station from Meadowhall to Sheffield City Centre.

The York-based Joseph Rowntree Foundation said last night that helping lift those on low incomes out of poverty should be part of proposals for the North.

Mark Goldstone, head of policy for the Leeds Chamber of Commerce, said: “We were delighted to hear Nick Clegg’s announcement about Northern Futures and the request for ideas that will help rebalance economic growth and prosperity.

“The Chamber will take up his offer and will seek the views of members across our region before responding on their behalf over the next few weeks.”