THE Prime Minister has spoken out in response to the ‘Manifesto for the North’.

The manifesto is a five-point plan calling for clean growth, devolution, transport, education, investment and trade.

It has been drawn up by a group of all 11 Northern Local Enterprise Partnerships and will be presented to political parties as they prepare for the General Election next month.

The document comes six months after The Press and other regional newspapers launched a Power up the North campaign, calling for the Government to invest in the north and narrow the north-south divide,

Boris Johnson said that when he became Prime Minister, he laid out a ‘positive vision for the North’ and the Government was already delivering on this.

“I’ve already announced that we will be backing Northern Powerhouse Rail, funding the Leeds to Manchester route, as well as increasing funding for schools across the region and investing in our NHS,” he said.

“Unemployment is falling, wages are rising, and we have signed multi-billion pound devolution deals across the North.

“But to really unleash the economic potential of the North, we have to get Brexit done.”