The Northern Agenda: Handsome is as handsome does

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By ROB PARSONS - July 29 2022

Liz Truss was touring a broadband interchange company in Leeds this morning ahead of tonight's head-to-head with Rishi Sunak in the first official hustings to help Tory members decide the next Prime Minister.

And on her return to the city where she was educated (and *sarcasm alert* apparently narrowly escaped a descent into poverty as her fellow pupils were "let down" by the local Roundhay school) the leadership frontrunner hopes she's found a winning connection with Northern voters.

As this newsletter revealed last night, the Foreign Secretary is planning a major government U-turn on the Northern Powerhouse Rail project connecting the great cities of the North if she reaches Number 10.

Rather than proceeding with the cut-price version of the route unveiled in last year's Integrated Rail Plan, with the new Leeds-Manchester high speed line promised by Boris Johnson in 2019 now scaled back, she wants to pursue the more expensive 'full fat' vision set out by Northern leaders.

Ms Truss told Westminster Editor Dan O'Donoghue: "We will build the Northern Powerhouse Rail to link up communities and unlock potential across the North. That’s how we will bring better jobs to the North and address productivity.”

All of which puts her leadership rival, North Yorkshire MP Mr Sunak, in a tight spot. As Chancellor his department was widely thought to have been behind the less ambitious version of Northern Powerhouse Rail being pursued.

Both he and Ms Truss