David Parkin on Northern wailers, Boris, Zippy and the Honey Monster

CALM down, calm down!

I know that was the catchphrase of Harry Enfield’s Scousers but you could currently apply it to quite a few people across the North of England.

Last night this rather agitated lot were shouting loudly from the rooftops and ringing church bells across the North country.

Well they weren’t, they were doing the modern equivalent and taking to Twitter.

On that social media platform many donned virtual sackcloth and ashes at news of the departure of Northern Powerhouse Minister Jake Berry in the Government reshuffle.

The fact that the Minister has decided to quit a role that used to see him attend Cabinet meetings sent many to their phones to Tweet their dismay at his departure and that it signals Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s commitment to the North after his election triumph was an empty promise.

It seems Mr Berry, the MP for Rossendale and Darwen, who has held the role of Northern Powerhouse Minister since 2017, was offered a new role in the Foreign Office which required lots of international travel.

But he said with three children under the age of three he could not commit to it.

He has been replaced by Simon Clarke, the MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland, who, one report noted, is the second tallest MP in the House of Commons.

I like that kind of detail.

Anyway the cause of so much consternation on Twitter was that his role as Minister of State at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and will not see him attend Cabinet meetings.

Cue wailings that BoJo has let all of us in the North down and his commitment to “powering up the North” is no more than an empty promise.

I doubt it.

Many are keen to portray the Prime Minister as a... to continue reading click here

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