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Northern Powerhouse: George Osborne to chair new think tank Northern Powerhouse: George Osborne to stay and fight for project
(about 4 hours later)
Former Chancellor George Osborne is to chair a new think tank aimed at taking forward his "Northern Powerhouse" plan. George Osborne has said he will stay in the Commons to "fight for the things I care about" as he launches a think tank to promote the Northern Powerhouse.
As chancellor, Mr Osborne championed the idea of creating an economy in the north of England to rival those of London and the South East. Mr Osborne, who was sacked as chancellor by Theresa May, said: "I don't want to write my memoirs because I don't know how the story ends."
But there have been concerns that the project may go off the rails under PM Theresa May, who sacked Mr Osborne. There had been a "bit of a wobble" by Mrs May over the project, he said.
Mr Osborne said the PM had committed to the vision but told the Sun: "We can't just expect Whitehall to do it all." No 10 says Mrs May is building on his plan to create a northern economy to rival London and the South East.
"It has to be a team effort," he told the newspaper. Giving his first major interview since being sacked as chancellor, Mr Osborne told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Politics is a tough business." But he said he believed he could "push and fight for" ideas he backed from outside the cabinet.
Mr Osborne, the MP for Tatton, in Cheshire, has returned to the backbenches following Mrs May's cabinet reshuffle, and said chairing the new body - the Northern Powerhouse partnership - would "now be a major focus of my political energies". Mr Osborne, the MP for Tatton in Cheshire, has returned to the back benches following Mrs May's cabinet reshuffle, and said chairing the new body - the Northern Powerhouse Partnership - would "now be a major focus of my political energies".
'Add impetus' 'Sweated blood'
BBC political correspondent Tom Bateman says it will be seen by some as an attempt to keep up pressure on Downing Street over what was Mr Osborne's trademark policy.
Earlier this month Labour's mayoral candidates for Greater Manchester and the Liverpool city region urged Mrs May to "honour your promises to the north of England", amid reports that she intends to shift the focus to other areas.
Downing Street has denied any lack of commitment, saying Mrs May is building upon Mr Osborne's project, and put Treasury aide Neil O'Brien in charge of it in her policy unit.
She also appointed Andrew Percy, the MP for the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire constituency of Brigg and Goole, as her Northern Powerhouse minister.
Mr Osborne welcomed Mrs May's support but said the new partnership would "add impetus" to the Northern Powerhouse project, which aims to devolve powers and funds to northern city regions, improve transport links and create new regional mayors to act as figureheads.
The board of the not-for-profit organisation will include business figures from across the north of England, as well as political figures to ensure city leaders are represented.The board of the not-for-profit organisation will include business figures from across the north of England, as well as political figures to ensure city leaders are represented.
The partnership says it aims to "maintain the momentum of the Northern Powerhouse" by commissioning specialist research and supporting local leaders and authorities "through innovative ideas and sharing examples of national and international best practice". The project's aim is to devolve powers and funds to northern city regions, improve transport links and create new regional mayors to act as figureheads.
Mr Osborne said the idea he first raised in 2014 had attracted huge, cross-party support already, adding: "In the space of just two years, we've created powerful new mayors, committed to huge new transport and science projects and attracted investment from around the world. Asked why he felt had had to say "the Northern Powerhouse is here to stay" in an interview with the Sun, Mr Osborne told the BBC: "To be honest there was a little bit of a wobble about when we had the new administration about whether they were still committed to the concept of the Northern Powerhouse."
"There's real excitement now in the North about what we can achieve if we work together. I don't want us to lose that." He said he supported economic development across the whole of the country and he had "sweated blood" to get a mayor for Birmingham - but he felt there was a particular opportunity in the North because the cities were close together.
'Narrowly focused' Pressed on whether he intended, like his former Downing Street neighbour David Cameron, to quit politics, he said: "No, I'm not."
Earlier Lib Dem former Energy Secretary Ed Davey told the BBC that Mr Osborne and Mrs May - then chancellor and home secretary - had "really disliked each other" in cabinet, partly because they were both seen as rivals for the future Tory leadership. He said he wanted to "hang around and find out" how his story would end, adding: "There's an enormous opportunity now to take part in the decisions that are going to affect Britain.
Mrs May signalled in a Yorkshire Post article earlier in the summer that she would press ahead with the Northern Powerhouse project - as well as making the Midlands an "engine for growth". "We've taken a big decision, which is to leave the European Union. There are now a whole host of new decisions about what our new relationship is with Europe, how we run our economy, how Britain behaves in the world. And I want to be there in ultimately, still the place where these decisions are made, the House of Commons, and be part of that decision-making process. Because I want to fight for the things that I care about."
He said he had voted for Mrs May and she was "the best person for the job of the candidates who put themselves forward" and she had made a "strong start" and was "perfectly entitled to set the tone" of her administration, including "to take a pause and consider" big decisions like whether to go ahead with the £18bn Hinkley Point nuclear power station.
'Nothing changed'
But he added: "I don't think anything has fundamentally changed from the deal that we put together in government just a few months ago... it looks to me pretty much like the same deal."
Mr Osborne backed the Hinkley deal and championed the Northern Powerhouse project as chancellor, before being sacked from the cabinet by Mrs May when she became prime minister.
Earlier this month Labour's mayoral candidates for Greater Manchester and the Liverpool city region urged Mrs May to "honour your promises to the north of England", amid reports that she intends to shift the focus to other areas.
However, Downing Street has denied any lack of commitment, saying Mrs May is building upon Mr Osborne's project, having put Treasury aide Neil O'Brien in charge of it in her policy unit and appointing a Northern Powerhouse minister, Andrew Percy.
Crossbench peer Lord Kerslake, who chairs the Northern Powerhouse's advisory board, told the BBC the direction in which Theresa May's government wanted to take the Northern Powerhouse "remains unclear" and Mr Osborne wanted to "hold the new government's feet to the fire".
Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said the government "realises the huge untapped potential of our great northern towns and cities" and he hoped the new partnership would "become an important part of the debate".Communities Secretary Sajid Javid said the government "realises the huge untapped potential of our great northern towns and cities" and he hoped the new partnership would "become an important part of the debate".
Ed Cox, director of the Institute of Public Policy Research North said: "It remains to be seen whether this new think tank will develop an inclusive approach to the northern economy because, to date, George Osborne's Northern Powerhouse has been too narrowly focused on big cities and metro mayors.
"Vital as these are, they will not address the economic and social challenges raised by the Brexit vote."