DO NOT FORGET - The Real North

* Updates *

July 2026

Andy Burnham is set to become PM.  The so-called ‘King of the North’ when he only is (arguably) the ‘King of the North Midlands’.

Manchester is clearly in the upper area of the central section of England.  It is about the same distance from Manchester to
London as it is from Manchester to the most northern tip of the country (Berwick-upon-Tweed.

Andy Burnham is talking of setting up a ‘No 10, North’ in Manchester - which isn’t the ‘North’.

It is welcome that he recognises that the country does not stop and start at London and the South East but it is important to highlight where the ‘Real North’ is (from Middlesbrough upwards - a huge area of land above areas often mistakenly, referred to as the ‘North’. 

Dec 2025 

New rail timetable to start on the 14th December.

We (“The Real North”) have a legitimate grievance with the Government as we have been adversely impacted in order to benefit passengers elsewhere and facilitate the wrong-headed priority to shave some minutes off the travel time between London - Edinburgh. 

HS2 is going nowhere near us - the so-called “Northern leg” was cancelled (really it was a “Midlands leg”) and, of course, the A1 dualling project has been abandoned.   

We, therefore, are owed the infrastructure investment for the capacity improvements required in this part of the country.

Over to you, North East Mayor ..


July 2025

Government announce that they are going to dual the A66 after saying there was no money to dual the A1…

October 30th, 2024

The Labour Government announces that it will NOT dual the A1.  Meanwhile HS2 will be extended to London Euston. 

Successive Governments of all political colours have had a tendency to take a southern and particularly a “London-centric” view of things and focussed investment there.

In recent years, there has been bold statements around creating a “Northern Powerhouse” and, more recently, of “Levelling up Britain”. 

Over the last few years, there appears to have been an increased focus on the northern end of the country and investment coming through initiatives such as the Borderland Inclusive Growth Deal. 

However, too often the Government will trumpet investment in “The North” when in actual fact the money is directed towards areas which are in the Upper Midland area of the country not “The Real North”. 

There is also concern that recent moves to make up for decades of underinvestment in places like Berwick-upon-Tweed in Northumberland and the rest of The Real North may now be stalled following Covid-19 and the lockdown. 

Please sign the petition and use the hashtag #TheRealNorth to help ensure we get our fair share and are not forgotten again in thIs new landscape ..