Northern Powerhouse will still be Rishi Sunak’s ultimate test – Tom Richmond

Appointed Chancellor less than four weeks ago, Mr Sunak had to then factor in a global slump triggered by coronavirus – and then an emergency and unprecedented  interest rate cut hours before he stood at the Despatch Box.

At least his speech had not been leaked – the fate of Ken Clarke in 1996 – as he sat down for a morning cuppa (Yorkshire Tea of course) and mused whether he should have invested the nation’s finances on the ironically-named Put The Kettle On, a 16-1 winner at Cheltenham.

But that’s only because Mr Sunak was completing another hasty rewrite to the first full Budget since, believe it or not, September 2018 because of Brexit.

And while William Hague was right when he hailed his constituency successor as “an unusually capable politician” – a conclusion borne out by Mr Sunak’s sober and statesmanlike tone to coronavirus – the more telling words came from the new Chancellor in his maiden speech in 2015.

“A great man once remarked that “some of you might not be here in 30 or 40 years” before reminding his audience that decisions made today shape the future for the next generation,” said the-then political novice. “I believe in a compassionate Britain that provides opportunity and values freedom. I hope I can play a small part in ensuring that our great nation continues to hold to those enduring values.”

The next generation? A small part? Prophetic words from a Chancellor tasked with seeing Britain through a global slump fuelled by coronavirus; the country’s exit from the EU and generating sufficient growth to pay for the Treasury’s new borrowing.

And while this speech – Mr Sunak is the first Yorkshire MP to become Chancellor since Denis Healey’s appointment in 1974 – will be remembered as the Coronavirus Budget, the more defining test, in the medium and longer term, will be whether the Northern Powerhouse delivers for the 15 million people who live and work here.

The promise of £600bn for innovation and infrastructure point to a Chancellor committed to raising productivity – the key driver of growth – in ‘red wall’ seats across the North after Labour’s electoral collapse. As he told the Commons in November 2017: “The Northern Powerhouse is a wonderful phrase, but the people of northern England deserve more than a slogan; they need action. How do we make the aspiration a reality?”

The-then backbencher was posing the question in the context of failing rail services. But Mr Sunak will be guilty of sloganising the words ‘level up’ come to mask delay and dither.

The phrase coined to describe its approach to the economy, how the Treasury will judge and measure success. Longer-term, when, if ever, will ‘levelling up’ be complete? Mr Sunak should be encouraged to elaborate.

This is not to dismiss the new Chancellor’s pronouncements. Quite the opposite. It is another measure of the impact the agenda-setting Power Up The North campaign, spearheaded by The Yorkshire Post, has had, that Mr Sunak is now committed to creating an economic campus in the region led by the Treasury and moving 22,000 civil servants out of London.

Just years after the Business Department retreated from Sheffield, I’ll believe this when it happens. This Chancellor is the latest to promise to rebalance the economy and look where it has got us; the most unproductive areas still receiving the least investment to boost output and a huge imbalance in transport spending.

It’s the same with plans – repeated again – to rewrite the Treasury ‘Green Book’ on the allocation of money for investment. Just get on with it Mr Sunak, you’re the Chancellor now.

But what does ‘levelling up’ mean? More frequent trains? They couldn’t be any worse. Better buses? Some communities – and also the low-waged – are very poorly served here. New flood defences? Better late than never. Affordable housing? One day perhaps.

All issues that matter to families, Mr Sunak’s immediate challenge – once coronavirus has passed – is to ensure that the Government makes a material difference to the lives of people here while, at the same time, launching the “century of prosperity” he promised.

As the Chancellor has admitted in the past, actions matter more than slogans. But if Rishi Sunak gets the Northern Powerhouse “done”, to paraphrase his landmark Budget speech already hailed as a personal and political triumph, he might be positioned to serve in an even greater capacity. As Prime Minister.

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