Northern think tank launches to support levelling-up

A new think tank has launched to support the Governments levelling-up agenda and the North’s post-COVID-19 recovery.

The Northern Policy Foundation (NPF) is described as “based in the North and run by Northern voices, to generate pragmatic ‘One Nation’ policies with impact”.

The organisation includes a Parliamentary Council made up of new Conservative MPs from mainly Brexit voting and ‘Blue Wall’ seats – traditionally Labour seats, won by the Conservatives in 2019). The council includes:

• Scott Benton, MP for Blackpool South
• Dehenna Davison, MP for Bishop Auckland
• Nick Fletcher, MP for Don Valley
• Katherine Fletcher, MP for South Ribble
• Imran Ahmad Khan, MP for Wakefield
• Mark Logan, MP for Bolton North East
• Alexander Stafford, MP for Rother Valley
• Sara Britcliffe, MP for Hyndburn and Haslingden

Tom Lees will head- up the NPF. Lees is the former global head of corporate affairs for construction consultancy Mace and staffer to two Cabinet Ministers. Alongside Lees is Dr Sean Worth, a former Number 10 policy adviser who previously ran the Conservative Party Research Department.

The organisation, Lees told TheBusinessDesk.com, is unlike others already in existence such as IPPR North or Northern Powerhouse Partnership. Citing that it would be the only “centre-right think tank based in the North of England” and that it aims to develop pragmatic and impactful policy interventions which will help the North to flourish, through “data analysis” and “looking at the evidence”.

Adding that: “Government is committed to levelling up, which is a good thing. But it needs to be laid, and shaped and developed by people who understand the north and northern voices. That’s why we thought we’d bring together a group of the newly elected northern MPs who have a real insight into their constituencies, and don’t think the North starts at Watford.”

The organisations initial work programme is said to focus on five key policy areas:

• Opportunity
• Innovation and R&D
• Health and Wellbeing
• Connectivity
• Values

The latter point, Lees explains means understanding, highlighting and expressing the thoughts, feelings and values of the North to Government. Citing that the 2016 Brexit referendum as highlighting these

He said: “The values that are held by the Westminster ‘chattering classes’ are genuinely not shared by normal people.

“There’s a divergence between what people in Westminster think are important to people, and what people actually think.”

“One of the challenges is that a lot of the policies and ideas have been posed from a Westminster bubble. And what we’re going to try and do is reflect with what people here think, want and matters to them and try and shape it the other way around.”

Yet before focusing on those issues Lees emphasised that the the priority must be “the Covid response”.

Adding that, “Now is the time to rebuild and re-shape the North to provide more and better opportunities for local people, tackle poor health outcomes and poverty, bolster and support science, innovation and R&D and to ensure the North’s economy comes back stronger after the COVID-19 pandemic.”

But he admits it won’t be easy, “Overcoming centuries old disparities and levelling-up will be a challenge”. And hopes that the necessity of Northern recovery will focus minds and put to rest the “tribal, parochial bickering” between Northern regions, which has previously created a distraction.

Concluding that, “With the right policy interventions and support from central government I know my fellow Northerners are up for the challenge”.

Rt Hon Michael Gove MP, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office, commented: “Levelling up the country and ensuring opportunities are spread right across the UK and the North is a key commitment of the Government.

“I welcome the creation of the Northern Policy Foundation, its aims and the work and research it plans to carry out.”