Northern daily news titles from across three different publishers have teamed up to publish a unified election “manifesto for the north”.
At least ten newspapers at Reach, Newsquest and JPI Media today splashed on the manifesto in print and online, calling for an end to economic neglect of the region ahead of next month’s general election.
The manifesto was drawn up by business and political leaders at the Convention of the North event in September and presents five key points to leaders of the Conservative, Labour and Liberal Democrat parties.
They include the local control of education and training, a formal commitment from the Treasury to rebalance the economy between the north and south, an improved transport budget, freedom to lead export growth with greater investment, and the backing to lead the green industrial revolution.
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At Reach it ran on the front pages of the Liverpool Echo, Manchester Evening News, Hull Daily Mail, Newcastle Chronicle, Teesside Gazette, Huddersfield Examiner, as well as websites Lancs Live and Leeds Live.
At Newsquest, the Bradford Telegraph and Argus and York Press are backing the manifesto, while JPI Media’s Yorkshire Post, Yorkshire Evening Post, Lancashire Post and Sunderland Echo are also on board.
MEN editor-in-chief Darren Thwaites said: “Once again we’ve been able to speak with a united and powerful voice for the 15.4m people we collectively serve.
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“The power of the north at the ballot box must now make political leaders sit up and take note.”
Newsquest Yorkshire group editor Nigel Burton said the manifesto was a “common-sense blueprint for regional prosperity”.
He added: “Give us a chance to show the rest of the country, and the world, what the north unleashed can really achieve.”
The collaboration follows the launch of the Power Up The North campaign in June in which more than 30 northern dailies called on Westminster to stop ignoring their readers and narrow the north-south divide.
Last year, the publishers teamed up in what they described as an “unprecedented show of unity” to call for Government action to fix Northern Rail’s “broken” services.
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