Once again, the North gets the short end of the stick. After endless chatter about ‘Levelling Up’, the latest Spring Statement delivers nothing for us, once again. Labour had a golden chance to prove they care about the North by investing in jobs, infrastructure, and opportunities. Instead, they’ve reverted to type: showering attention on London and the South, leaving us to fend for ourselves.

Remember when Boris turned the Red Wall blue in 2019? It wasn’t just about Brexit, his infectious optimism or even Corbyn and his Marxist cronies. It was about smashing the Whitehall mindset that treats the North as an afterthought. We dared to hope for a rebalanced economy, where opportunities aren’t hoarded south of the Watford Gap. But this Spring Statement and previous 9 months of Labour Government? It’s a slap in the face.

Look where the cash is flowing: the Lower Thames Crossing, the Oxford-Cambridge rail line, a third runway at Heathrow. And the North? Our game-changing project, the Northern leg of HS2, remains buried in the ‘too hard, too pricey’ pile. When Rishi Sunak axed HS2’s northern stretch in Manchester, it was a gut punch. Labour had the chance to right that wrong and instead, they gave it the knockout blow. Instead of bold moves, we got a collective shrug.

This week, in a bid to pacify growing unrest from the North and their own jittery backbenchers, Labour dusted off the TransPennine Line upgrade. Déjà vu, anyone? This isn’t fresh investment; it’s a reheated version of a Conservative plan, which started construction in 2019 back when Chris Grayling was Secretary of State for Transport, and the project first got underway. They must think we have short memories.

It’s not just about broken promises in on the railway lines. Education—the ladder to a better life—is another missed opportunity for truly improving the lives of people across the north of England. The Spring Statement could have pumped real money into northern schools, closing the gap that’s left our kids lagging behind their southern counterparts. Instead, Labour indulges in ideological navel-gazing while watching standards, which improved dramatically under the Conservative Government, slip. And who suffers most when education fails? The most deprived areas. Where are many of those? You guessed it—the North.

Take Teesside. Ben Houchen has been grafting to bring investment and jobs to the area, showing what’s possible with a bit of elbow grease and belief. But rather than backing these efforts, Labour’s pulling the plug on key investments, leaving projects in limbo and businesses in the lurch. The Spring Statement could have given Teesside the shot in the arm it needs. Instead, it got the cold shoulder.

Labour will trot out the usual platitudes about the fact ‘they care’, they’re ‘looking into it’ and about how ‘tough choices’ have to be made. But let’s be real—when was the last time a ‘tough choice’ landed in our favour? The Treasury’s spreadsheets always seem to justify splashing cash in London and the Southeast, and Labour continues to dance to that tired old tune.

We’re not mugs. We know when we’re being taken for a ride. Labour treated the North like a vote farm for decades—rock-solid seats that never saw a shred of real investment. Then the Tories smashed the Red Wall and actually started delivering. But let’s be honest—despite making serious headway up here, the party turned into such a circus down South that it blew those gains out the water. Now Labour’s back to treating the North like an afterthought, showing all the drive and ambition of a teenager half-heartedly doing homework on a Friday night.

The kicker? We know what’s possible when a government actually gives a damn. Under Boris, Levelling Up wasn’t just a catchy slogan—it meant real money, real projects, and a genuine belief that we could finally bridge the North-South divide. Decades of economic imbalance were never going to be fixed overnight. But it was a start. Labour should have built on that momentum. Instead, they’ve slammed it into reverse.

But here we are, with Labour basking in their massive majority. They think they can continue to ignore the North. But here’s the thing—we’re watching. And come the next election, we’ll remember who stood up for the North and who left us out in the cold.

Sir Jake Berry is a former Conservative party chairman and minister for the Northern Powerhouse