Child poverty up and pay lagging since northern powerhouse launch

Political leaders in the north say project has halted and needs to be put back on the map

Five years after the government launched its northern powerhouse concept, 200,000 more children in the north of England are in poverty, foreign investment has plummeted and the number of late or cancelled trains in the region has more than doubled, new analysis shows.

Research by the thinktank IPPR North also found there had been a 3.6bn cut in public spending in the north since 2010, compared to a 4bn rise in the south.