If you add in Labour's decision to abandon plans to upgrade part of the A1 in Northumberland to dual carriageway, you can forgive the region for casting a rather envious glance at Rachel Reeves' push for growth in the south.

Good morning. Rachel Reeves delivered her big speech on growth. It contained a number of measures: some good (the Oxford/Cambridge arc tops that list), some bad (the third runway at Heathrow) and some added to give the list of growth initiatives the appearance of a more even regional distribution (the regeneration of Old Trafford).

British finance minister Rachel Reeves gave the government's backing to a long-delayed new runway at London's Heathrow Airport on Wednesday as the centrepiece of her plan to speed up the country's sluggish economy.