Report calls for united northern voice post Brexit

A new report, published by IPPR North, argues that more needs to be done to build business confidence in the north following a year of increasing uncertainty.

The State of the North 2016 report focuses on three key issues: securing a united northern voice at the Brexit negotiating table; establishing clear principles for a place-based industrial strategy; and focusing on local economic resilience alongside growth and devolution.

The report offers a comprehensive assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of each LEP area in the region - saying that ‘dark clouds are gathering on the horizon’ and that ‘the implications of Brexit on the North will be profound’.

Taking into account the departure of northern vocalists in Parliament, such as former chancellor George Osborne and financial secretary Jim O’Neill, IPPR North calls for the formation of a Northern Brexit Negotiating Committee to determine the type of Brexit that would best suit the North.

Additionally, the report calls upon the government to adopt a place-based approach to industrial strategy with the three core principles of regional differentiation, coordinated investment and devolution as its foundation.

The group’s analysis also found that the North’s resilience is as varied as its geography, but grouped the North’s LEP areas into the following categories. IPPR North recommends conducting LEP resilience audits, each conducting a resilience audit that sets out in detail the threats to their economy in the wake of Brexit.

This audit should then be used to inform a strategic response, and a set of asks from the government that are tailored to acting on this strategy as part of a new round of devolution deals with each LEP area.

Ed Cox, director of IPPR North, said: “In June the people spoke. But in the north, they shouted. It has made me very angry that since the referendum, when it has become clear that the northern economy could suffer significantly as a result of the Brexit decision, that some in the metropolitan media have presented northerners as foolish or simple.”

Luke Raikes, report author and research fellow at IPPR North, added: “It is clear from this analysis that an industrial strategy will be vital for the north. But this strategy can’t just invest in small clusters of activity, it must also connect these up across the north, with the transport infrastructure that’s now long overdue.

“And most important of all, the north will need to develop a stronger, more inclusive labour market, so that both people and businesses can thrive from northern economic growth.”