NRG 2023 was a success!
And with that, the NRG’s second annual conference is completed.
What a fantastic day it was in Doncaster and on behalf of everyone at the Northern Research Group, thank you everyone coming to the race course, as without you, we wouldn’t have a conference.
We had everyone from the former chancellor, Government ministers businesses men and women from across every sector imaginable, party members from across the north of England who care about ensuring we see levelling up become a reality… oh, and the Prime Minister who came directly from Washington DC to be with us!
Thank you to everyone for your ideas in our policy discussions and the fantastic questions to our panelists all of whom have a unique understanding on how to bring about change and bring investment into the North.
After all of that, the NRG executive committee will now spend the summer working on the Northern Manifesto, these will be our asks from Government that will ensure a brighter, more prosperous future for the North.
Make sure you keep an eye on the website and on our social media channels as it’s going to be big!
We’re heading back to Doncaster!
After the success of last years conference, we’ll be heading back to Doncaster for #NRG2023 in what will be big and better than before.
Our second conference on Friday the 9th of June 2023 at Doncaster Racecourse.
The Conference will be an opportunity for you to shape the Conservative Party’s election offer to the North, as well as the country as a whole – culminating in a Northern Manifesto, full of policy ideas to boost our region.
Ministers, MPs, Northern Businesses, Charities, Members, and other important stakeholders will be present to work on ideas, to discuss the issues that really matter to the North, and to build upon the work that has been done by the NRG to date.
For more information on NRG Conference 2023, please go to the following webpage: https://nrgconference.uk/nrg-2023.
The ambition set out at the Northern Research Group Conference
In his keynote speech at the Northern Research Group Conference, Rt Hon Jake Berry MP unveiled three key proposals that the Government can enact to ensure that we build upon the success of the 2019 election, which delivered this Government’s majority.
The Chair of the Northern Research Group reasserted the defining missions of our government as:
- to level up this country and to deliver for everyone everywhere;
- to tackle the regional and local inequalities that hold back our communities; and
- to encourage private sector investment, right across the UK.
The first of three major proposals, the ‘levelling up formula,’ will seek a fairer deal for all regions in the UK. A ‘levelling up formula’ would do the same for the North as the Barnett formula does for the devolved nations – it would benefit the whole of the UK. It would see more money spent in the North but also, in Cornwall, in the Southwest and in the Midlands.
‘This is an idea from the North that will truly unite and level up our entire nation’, Jake said.
His second proposal will call for a devomax Government. This radical plan will enable local areas to take power from central government: power to lower taxes, dictate housing requirements and set stamp duty rates. Giving areas the right to vary tax rates down will help deliver a more competitive economy. In his speech, Jake argued:
‘It’s time to stop talking about being the party of low tax, it’s time to be the Government of low tax.’
Vocation, vocation, vocation, the final pledge, calls on government to reverse the failed Labour education experiment; instead focusing on boosting the opportunities of young people to take up high-level apprenticeships.
Jake, after announcing plans for two new world class vocational institutes across the north, said:
‘The sad truth is that Sir Tony’s policy has failed the young people of this country and left the UK at the bottom of the G7 when it comes to productivity.’
This proposal will create a skills base for the future that will transform lives across the North by driving levelling up.
Agenda – The Northern Research Group Conference Doncaster June 2022
This event brought together senior Cabinet members, NRG Members of Parliament, local councillors, senior civic and business leaders, policy experts, colleagues from the third sector, prospective parliamentary candidates and Conservative Party activists to discuss the opportunity that the levelling up agenda presents for our communities.
This event was an important moment for the North of England, and a chance for us to come together to shape and define policies that will transform our great towns and cities.
Discussions centred around:
- Net Zero and the future of energy
- Remaking the Enterprise and Growth Economy
- Devolving Power to Places
- Developing a Minerals Strategy
- Towards a Healthier North
- A Northern Skills Base for the Future
- Smart Defence: Sovereign Capability after Ukraine
- Connecting the North
Next Steps for Levelling Up the North
Introductory remarks from the Northern Research Conference, followed by contributions from Nick Fletcher MP, Ben Houchen, Mayor of the Tees Valley, and Rt Hon Jake Berry, Chair of the Northern Research Group. The video concludes with a panel chaired by Graham Robb, consisting of Dehenna Davison MP, Sir Howard Bernstein, Michelle Dewberry (GB News) and Bruce Heppenstall, Director of Drax Power Station.
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The Big Interview with Michael Gove MP
Interview with Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with concluding remarks from Mary Robinson MP.
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The Big Ideas Debate
A discussion of key priorities for the North of England, followed by the keynote speech by Rt Hon Jake Berry MP, Chair of the Northern Research Group.