MP protests at Hull's exclusion from Clegg's 'Golden Triangle'

Hull North MP Diana Johnson today slammed Lib Dem Leader Nick Clegg's exclusion of Hull from his 'Golden Triangle' of growth between Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield.

In response to Chancellor George Osborne's statement on having an high speed rail connection between Manchester and Leeds, the Lib Dem Deputy Prime Minister's office this week briefed local newspapers in Sheffield that: "Nick Clegg has long believed that three cities Manchester, Leeds and Sheffield should become a 'Northern golden triangle' to drive economic growth in the North".

Speaking in Business Questions in the House of Commons, Diana Johnson MP said: "On top of the unfair treatment Hull receives in council funding and other funding that has been cut, this week the Chancellor forgot to mention that Hull is at the end of the HS3 route he was proposing and now we hear that the Deputy Prime Minister is talking about a golden triangle between Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield.

"In the light of the snubs the Government keep giving Hull, may we have a debate on this? We are doing our very best, getting the city of culture and Siemens into the city, but those are victories that are home-grown, not enabled by the Government."

Speaking after the debate, Diana Johnson MP added: "Many people have been working hard locally to regenerate Hull, but it's not helped by the frequent unfair treatment from Whitehall, unbalanced portrayals by some TV documentary-makers, the free market thinkers who think Hull's regeneration should be abandoned or when Nick Clegg joins in by leaving Hull outside the area of the North that Lib Dems regards as the 'Golden Triangle' for growth."