PLANS to set up a “Whitehall of the North” in Manchester have the smell of a done deal hanging over them. It is a smell particularly offensive to Liverpool noses.

Even in the days of Manchester and Liverpool working together to drive the north-western economy, it is only natural for the two cities to want to look after their own interests as well.

It looks as is Manchester has been quick off the mark to make the land available for some 700,000 square feet off office space. Plots that size are hard to come by easily, yet there should surely be time for Liverpool to pitch its own case.

A quarter of a million square feet of space has already been mooted in Pall Mall only in the last few days, and there is plenty of land on the northern edge of the city centre, behind the old Exchange Station, waiting to be developed, given a green light from the city council.

Liverpool’s suburbs and dormitory towns can match anything that the northern Surrey, the golden strip round the south of Manchester, can offer – and often with sea views and considerably cheaper, too.

The quality of Liverpool’s cultural life hardly needs to be repeated in the afterglow of Capital of Culture year.

All in all, Liverpool and its surrounding towns should be able to put together a package that can make the top civil servants in London take very seriously the prospect of bringing most – if not all – of the new jobs to the Liverpool city region.

It will need a concerted effort and some quick footwork to make an impression at this stage, but, given the size of the prize on offer, those responsible for marketing the region owe it to their local taxpayers to give it the best they possibly can – starting today.