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Adonis defends North East review following Commons bashing

Lord Adonis has defended his North East Economic Review, saying North East businesses and local authorities are behind his proposals.

Following heavy criticism of the Review in a Commons debate this week by North East MPs, Lord Adonis told Bdaily that his job was not to assess the impact of spending cuts in the North East but to promote growth under existing conditions.

Lord Adonis said: “The Labour Party itself has a very powerful critique itself of the extent of cuts, but It wasn’t the job of my review to determine national economic policy - that is something that will be debated in the next election.

“My job was to highlight ways we can promote growth within the confines of existing policy. I do understand my colleagues who are frustrated with the scale of the cuts, and I share their frustration.”

The Labour Peer was at Newcastle’s Centre for Life for a NELEP conference on progress made on the Review’s recommendations.

Lord Adonis said the next step was to formally established the combined local authorities group, known as the LA7, via a legislative proposal.

He added: “There will be a public consultation with a view to the combined authority being established next April. I think that is really important for the region because that will give a real impetus to improvements in skills, transport and economic development.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .