TURNING Liverpool’s port into a national transport hub is key to boosting the economy of the North, according to a major new study.
The Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR) North today launches a strategy for breaking down the North South divide.
The IPPR report claims that rebalancing the economy in favour of the North is vital to the future prosperity of the UK.
Just halving the output gap between the North and the national average would increase national income by £41bn.
Geoff Muirhead, chairman of the Northern Economic Futures Commission led by the IPPR, said: "In this, our final report, we have brought together a strategy for growth that can unlock much of the potential in the north of England which currently lies untapped.
“Now is the time to act decisively: to prevent our fiscal crisis from deepening, to set our local economies free to drive growth, and to give the North its voice on a national and global stage."
The report recommends a series of actions, and says the region needs a figurehead like London Mayor Boris Johnston to argue for a better deal.
It calls for an annual ‘N11’ Leaders’ Summit involving each of the 11 Local Enterprise Partnership areas in the North, headed up by a Northern ‘chair’ to serve for a period of four years.
