Lisa Nandy has slammed the Government's levelling up strategy, likening it to a feudal system in which the North has to go "cap in hand to a group of masters" in Westminster "who determine what happens in our own lives and our community".
The Wigan MP spoke passionately about how levelling up was a "personal" mission to her, as she accused Chancellor Rishi Sunak of prioritising London and the South East for cash.
Her comments come a week after the long awaited levelling up white paper was unveiled by Michael Gove, with promises to end regional inequality and the North-South divide.
Ms Nandy was unconvinced by the plan however, she told the Northern Agenda podcast: "I think my frustration with Michael Gove is that although he is talking the right language, he knows that he can't deliver, he's hit a real roadblock at the Treasury."
"I think the central problem is that fundamentally, Rishi Sunak does not believe that most regions of the UK have the ability to contribute to our economic future", she added.
