Is Rachel Reeves abandoning the North?

As I listened to coverage of Chancellor Rachel Reeves announcing her backing for airport expansion and a UK Silicon Valley in the south-east of England, I was driving through crumbling northern infrastructure.

First up, a coned-off flyover in Gateshead.

This crucial section of the A167 was shut last year after its 1960s concrete proved so corroded it was in danger of imminent collapse.

It was so bad that, for a time, Tyne and Wear Metro trains had to stop running underneath it, causing chaos for commuters and Christmas shoppers.

Talks have opened with the government for help toward its demolition and replacement, but so far no money has been forthcoming.

Once past that obstacle, you come to the iconic Tyne Bridge. Except, it looks less than lovely at the moment.

It is shrouded in scaffolding while the neglected, rusting hulk is gradually restored.

Work will take years and has slowed traffic to a crawl.

Before last July's election, money had been promised (though not actually paid out) by the Conservatives to fund its revitalisation, but now the people of the North East are waiting to see whether that pledge will be honoured by Labour.

If you add in Labour's decision to abandon plans to upgrade part of the A1 in Northumberland to dual carriageway, you can forgive the region for casting a rather envious glance at Rachel Reeves' push for growth in the south.

Never mind a third runway, we wouldn't mind having a functioning flyover.

So not, perhaps, what voters who backed Reeves' party in 26 of the region's 27 constituencies last year might have hoped for.

Not that there is much hankering for the "halcyon" days of Tory levelling up.

A failure to convince voters that idea was much more than sloganeering was a significant part of why the Conservatives lost big.

Northerners are used to disappointment, but have we really been abandoned again in favour of the apparently easier growth hits available in the South?

Odd as it seems, Heathrow expansion at least could offer benefits.

Newcastle has a daily link to the airport and, so it's argued, can enjoy some collateral boost.

And when it was last proposed, the new runway was set to offer a service between Teesside Airport and London.

The chancellor has also talked about the role Teesside can play in manufacturing the new sustainable aviation fuels that will be needed to make the case for airport expansion.

When I have interviewed Reeves on her recent visits to the region, it is the passing of powers and funding to Conservative Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen and Labour's North East Mayor Kim McGuinness that she has sold as key to growth here.

But will all that really transform the fortunes of England's poorest region and close the longstanding performance gap with the South?

That seems like a leap.

What Rachel Reeves' speech demonstrated is that big infrastructure improvement requires government action.

The North still has no recent investment to compare to the billions put into London's Elizabeth Line, and expecting southern success to trickle up the country has not worked for more than a century now.

This was, though, one speech on one day, for a Chancellor that still has a few years to prove northern voters were right to back her party.

But Labour know they can no longer take the people of the North East for granted.

The Conservative's temporary success of 2019 here proved that, while the rise of Reform UK poses a new threat.

The "Red Wall" of Labour MPs might have been rebuilt last July, but the party will need to keep a firm eye on its shallow foundations to avoid the brickwork crumbling as badly as that Gateshead flyover.