North left behind in levelling up shortfall

RISHI Sunak was greeted with an unwelcome front page on Friday as he travelled to Teesside on the campaign trail. The Northern Echo's splash tells readers the North East is "still left behind".

- ROB PARSONS

Conservative fears the party will be wiped out across the region won't have been helped by the Echo's story, which cites government documents showing planned infrastructure spend up North lagging way behind London and the South East.

Despite the Government's boasts of splashing levelling up cash in our left-behind towns, it appears planned spend per head next year for the North East is just £1,245. London is set to get £2,074 and the South West £2,510.And the stats are more ammunition for critics who say Boris Johnson's levelling up agenda has been, in reality, little more than a slogan.