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  11. Farmer accused of flipping car over in road

    Video content

    Video caption: County Durham farmer accused of flipping car over in road

    Robert Hooper denies dangerous driving and criminal damage after the incident on his farm driveway.

  13. Levelling up: 'A great slogan but how to do it'

    Michael Wild

    Political programmes editor, North East & Cumbria

    It’s been called the central mission of Boris Johnson’s premiership. A whole government department was renamed in its honour.

    While the phrase “levelling-up” quickly replaced Northern Powerhouse and Big Society on the lips of every would-be Conservative.

    It’s a great slogan.

    But exactly what it means to level up the UK - and how success will be measured - has always been more elusive.

    The problem is clear. The North East lags well behind other parts of the country.

    Men and women die on average three years earlier than in the South East. Children are more likely to be obese and do less well at school. Unemployment is higher, wages lower

    And government spending on areas like transport falls woefully short of what’s available to London and the South.

    Narrowing those divides is surely a priority for any government which wants to see a healthier, fairer and more economically-balanced country.

    Bridges across the Tyne
    Copyright: BBC

    But how to do it?

    Well so far there have been assorted pots of money – the High Street Fund, the Levelling Up Fund, the Shared Prosperity Fund – with councils often invited to bid against each other for a slice of the cash.

    Teesside has secured a Freeport and Darlington a new northern headquarters for the Treasury.

    Yet at the same time local councils have faced a continued budget squeeze.

    Critics say none of the government’s plans amount to a coherent strategy to tackle the region’s fundamental health and economic problems.

    Today’s White Paper is an opportunity to make that case – but there’s little or no new money and some of the targets remain pretty vague.

    The government acknowledges it can only do so much. That why it wants more devolution deals – moving power and money from Whitehall to local mayors like Ben Houchen in the Tees Valley.

    There’ll be an expanded deal for the North East while Durham will go it alone with its own devolution revolution.

    This might all be a welcome start – but it’ll take billions of pounds of spending and years of political commitment before areas like the North East are genuinely levelled up.

    Teesside freeport sign
    Copyright: BBC
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