I am a child of the North West

I am a child of the North West.

I was born in Lancaster, my Dad was from the bit of North Wales that Granada News always included as local news and my mum is from Penrith.

Both my Grandfathers were from the Wirral and all bar one of my kids were born in the North West too.

I only ever wanted to move to a big city when I was a teenager. The choices were Liverpool and Manchester. I have degrees from the two great universities of Manchester, in addition to an honorary award from the University of Central Lancashire.

Along with the late great Tony Wilson I was in favour of devolution for the region twenty years ago, a campaign for which his mate Peter Savile created a North West flag.

I love being the North West editor of TheBusinessDesk.com, as I’m sure you can deduce from everything I say and do.

So I was suitably appalled when I heard that the Liberal Democrat candidate in the Stockport constituency where I live made a lazy casual slur about people from Liverpool.

We’ve all been through too much together to let this sort of thing be passed off as banter or, as her leader Ed Davey described it, “a very bad joke”.

Conduct in public life is important. This election gives us the opportunity to turn the page on to a new era of government and service.

Let it be a time of seriousness, not the triviality of bad jokes and cunning stunts.

One where long term thinking to solve societal and economic problems is valued more than slogans and easy answers.

Northern Powerhouse, Brexit, and Levelling Up have failed the North West. They were slogans without strategy.

The incredible Sir Howard Bernstein, who we mourn this week, showed us the value of thinking in decades. The power of ambition, and hope, of working together, and of focus.

In that spirit, please vote for change next Thursday.