Despite potentially being nearly two years away, it is clear the battle lines for the next General Election are already being drawn.

With Jeremy Hunt delivering his first budget a few weeks ago, keen eyes were trained on plans for regional economic growth. Meanwhile, Labour leader Keir Starmer’s speech, delivered in Manchester at the end of February, served up Labour’s vision on the same topic. But as ever, talk of growth tomorrow does little to address the immediate challenges facing places across the UK.