A top aide to Rishi Sunak has been crticised after stating workers in northern towns should "accept lower wages" to compete with the South.
The Chancellor, who is said to be blocking cash for key "levelling up" projects, has been urged to explain why he takes advice from economist Tim Leunig, who says northerners should accept less because "London is London".
The Treasury aide has come under fire after a think tank report called Cities Unlimited, in which Mr Leunig wrote “the only way towns and cities that are less well connected (...) can compete to attract firms is to accept lower wages".
