The Government should launch a Northern Big Bang to ‘unleash a torrent of investment into the Northern economy’ says a report from a Conservative think-tank.

The Centre for Policy Studies says the ‘levelling up’ agenda will only be achieved by encouraging private sector investment adding: ‘The most successful examples of regeneration in this country – such as the extraordinary growth of London’s Docklands into a global financial centre since the 1980s, or Nissan’s investment in manufacturing in Sunderland – were driven by private investment on a colossal scale.’