Andrew Gwynne, Labour’s candidate for the Denton and Reddish constituency in the upcoming general election, has expressed his delight at proposals outlined today by Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell to shift the centre of political decision making from London to the North.
McDonnell used his first major speech of the election campaign to promise an “irreversible shift in the centre of gravity in political decision making and investment” from London to the North.
McDonnell pledged an additional £150 billion in a new Social Transformation Fund, to be spent over the first five years of our Labour government.
In a speech in his home city of Liverpool, McDonnell said that the fund will be used to “upgrade and expand our schools, hospitals, care homes and council houses”. The Shadow Chancellor promised that a “powerful section of the Treasury” will be based in the north of England.
McDonnell said that a National Transformation Fund unit of the Treasury, will be launched to deliver the plan to ensure that key decisions about investment in the north are made in the north.
Andrew Gwynne said:
“I am absolutely delighted by today’s announcement, which would be a game-changer for the North.
“For too long, the power and wealth of our country has been disproportionately concentrated in London and the South East.
“For all their talk of the Northern Powerhouse, the Tories have spent the last decade neglecting our region, giving us nothing but empty promises and slogans.
“What the Shadow Chancellor announced today would finally allow decisions about the North to be made in the North.”
John McDonnell, the Shadow Chancellor, said:
“Our aim as a Labour government is to achieve what past Labour governments have aspired to. An irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people.
“That means change means investment on a scale never seen before in this country and certainly never seen before in the North and outside of London and the South East.
“To achieve that objective also requires therefore an irreversible shift in the centre of gravity in political decision making and investment in this country from its location solely in London into the North and regions and nations of our country.”