Sunak vows to invest in North

摘要

Chancellor Rishi Sunak has pledged extra cash in a bid to head off a revolt by a new northern group of Conservative MPs. The chancellor told MPs in the Northern Research Group he would pump infrastructure investment into the region to offset the economic impact of the pandemic. Mr Sunak, who represents a Yorkshire constituency, spoke to the MPs via Zoom but gave no specific detail on the projects. His address follows a letter last month to Prime Minister Boris Johnson signed by 50 Tory MPs in the new Northern Research Group from the north, north Wales and Scottish Borders. In the letter, the MPs said the virus had 'exposed in sharp relief the deep structural and systemic disadvantage faced by our communities' and expressed 'concerns that the cost of COVID could be paid for by the downgrading of the levelling-up agenda'.