NORTHERN England is suffering because successive governments have made political decisions to use an algorithm favouring the South, it is being claimed.

Yorkshire Party leader Bob Buxton, said: “We all know the calculations used in the Treasury’s Green Book have a fatal flaw – they always suggest that infrastructure investments in London and the South East have a better cost to benefit ratio, simply because of their higher house prices. But the Government made a conscious decision to use them to justify what they always wanted to do – Invest South, Neglect North. Just as with the exam grades fiasco, the Tories are blaming a rogue algorithm – rather than taking responsibility for their actions.”

He added: “During Labour’s 13 years in power, regional disparity got worse, not better, and the same is true of the Tory-Lib Dem coalition. London-based parties prioritise London.”