Angela Eagle MP, Labour’s Shadow First Secretary of State and Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, commenting on the publication of The Centre for Cities study today, said:

“This report raises serious questions about George Osborne’s vow to deliver a rebalanced economy, and signals a failure to deliver enough of the high-skilled and better-paid jobs Labour wants to see.

“As is so often the case with the Tories, when you look beyond the press releases and spin there is a yawning gap between their rhetoric and reality and this report shows that they are presiding over a huge regional economic divide. 

“Only by taking urgent action to tackle the skills emergency, address our poor productivity performance, and to unblock infrastructure obstacles can the Tories hope to attract more businesses and investment to these areas.

“Such structural weaknesses in the economy pose a clear and present threat to our future competitiveness and require urgent attention, allowing them to persist is holding Britain back.”