Liam Halligan: Boris Johnson needs to level up northern infrastructure if he wants reelection

In June 2014, then Chancellor George Osborne gave a speech at Manchester’s Museum of Science and Industry where he outlined his Northern Powerhouse vision. That vision was built around a central idea – connecting the great towns and cities of the north, so unleashing the true economic potential of this region.

And what a region it is - the cradle of the industrial revolution, a place with an industrial heritage that is simply unmatched anywhere in the world. A collection of proximate cities including – Liverpool, Manchester, Leeds, Sheffield, York, Newcastle – that boast bags of political, philosophical, sporting, artistic and cultural capital too. These great northern cities combined boast a higher population than London.

But generate less than half the economic output of the capital. And, that’s the point. Link these cities together – and the towns that surround them – with decent transport infrastructure – rather than the painfully slow, often chronically over-crowded, ramshackle and largely diesel-fuelled train network that currently exists, along with an even more sparse bus network – and you’d have a growth centre to rival London. Connect our Northern cities and you wouldn’t only boost overall UK growth.

You’d also address the stark reality that Britain is the most regionally unequal large, developed economy on the face of the earth. Since Osborne’s 2014 speech, the Northern Powerhouse has become a well-worn political slogan, a campaign rallying cry, but little else.

And when it comes to Northern Powerhouse Rail – the proposed high-speed line linking Liverpool on the West coast to Newcastle on the East, incorporating not only Manchester, but also Manchester airport, connecting this region to the world – well, that has remained firmly on the drawing board.

There have been feasibility studies, pledges and promises – but we seem to be years away from even agreeing the route of Northern Powerhouse Rail, let alone putting spades in the ground. Today, the Northern Powerhouse Partnership business lobbying group have launched a powerful new report.

The Northern Powerhouse Partnership, working with the economic consultancy Mott Macdonald, estimate that building just one key part of Northern Powerhouse Rail – from Manchester to Leeds via Bradford – could boost the economy by £22bn over the next three decades, generating huge productivity rises.

This new report focusses on advanced manufacturing, energy production, life and medical sciences and digital as the economic specialisms that could help this region fly. Boris Johnson says he wants to build back better, to level up. He knows that, in order to gain re-election, he needs to retain those vital red wall seats across Northern England.

Yet, so far, since his Tory predecessor George Osborne started using that catchy Northern powerhouse slogan, we've seen very little that is actually tangible to make this project a reality. So that our On The Money question today. Will Northern Powerhouse Rail ever happen?