TALK of the House of Lords moving to York as part of the 'levelling up' process is just a 'distraction' tactic, York's Labour MP for York Central Rachael Maskell says.

Speaking to Times Radio this morning, Michael Gove again raised the prospect of the House of Lords moving out of London as an example of what levelling up could involve.

The Levelling Up Secretary told Times Radio: "We've got our friends in the House of Lords who will have to move out of their current building, at the moment, because of the renovation of the Palace of Westminster.

"I think it'd be a really good thing if the House of Lords were to meet for at least part of the time in Glasgow or in York. I think it would do us all good."

City of York Council Leader Keith Aspden today welcomed the fact that moving the Lords to York, even if temporarily, seemed to be back on the agenda.

"As Liberal Democrats, we have long called for the House of Lords to be reformed to ensure that those who scrutinise the laws made in the Commons are also directly elected. We will continue to call for any proposals, which strive to make the Westminster political power structure more representative and decentralised, to be taken forward," he said.

“Keeping the possibility of temporarily relocating the House of Lords on the Government’s agenda is welcome."

Cllr Aspden added that his authority was continuing to work with Government officials and development partners at the huge York Central site behind the railway station so as to 'secure the opportunity to bring more higher paid and skilled jobs to York, both through a new Government Hub as well as the new headquarters of Great British Rail'.

“The continued interest in moving significant government functions to York Central truly demonstrates the quality of the site, which has been recognised as one of the most important brownfield sites in the country," he said.

But Labour MP Ms Maskell said the Lords comment by Mr Gove was just another example of the government desperately trying to distract attention away from the partygate shenanigans at No 10.

"We know that the House of Lords is going to stay in Westminster," she said. "The government just wants to distract the public's attention from what is going on in Downing Street."

Mr Gove was doing the rounds of news outlets this morning to discuss his 'levelling up' white paper released this morning.

The paper outlines 12 ‘missions’ which aim to give a better deal to ‘forgotten and deprived’ communities, many of them in the North of England – including holding out the promise of a devolution deal for ‘every part of England that wants one’.

Other 'missions' include improving pay, employment, and productivity and narrowing the gap between the best and worst performing areas; a 40 per cent increase in R&D investment outside the South East by 2030; and a pledge to bring the country's local public transport systems much closer to London standards.

But Labour has dismissed the plan as 'more slogans' with 'few new ideas'.

Ms Maskell said there was very little substance in the white paper. York, with one of the worst cost-of-living crises in the country and a glut of buy-to-let properties forcing up both rents and the cost of buying a home, needed more than just words, she said.

"We need a social housing revolution."

York Outer conservative MP Julian Sturdy welcomed the white paper, however, as 'evidence that the Government remains serious about delivering on one of the most important pledges made to the British public at the last election'.

Mr Sturdy added: "Whilst a focus on devolution and major infrastructure is important, I would urge Michael Gove to not overlook the bread and butter projects that are vital for local economic growth. Projects like York Central which is ready to go and will bring 6,500 new high value jobs to the city. With this focus, we will start to see some benefits from the levelling up strategy in the short term."