CUMBRIA has been left with the “short end of a very mucky stick”, claims a leading politician.

Responding to claims that the Northern Powerhouse is effectively finished, Liberal Democrat Peter Thornton says the county will have to rely very much on its own resources “for some time”.

“The Northern Powerhouse is at the back of the fifth drawer in Theresa May's filing cabinet after Brexit and other issues,” says Mr Thornton, former leader of South Lakeland District Council and its present financial portfolio holder.

The so-called Northern Powerhouse was the brainchild of former chancellor George Osborne in 2014 to counterbalance the magnetic pull of London by establishing a second centre of pull in the north of England,

The plan involves substantial changes to how the north is run and attention has focused on the devolving of political and economic powers and the development of transport links.

However, think tank Policy North, a business-led organisation which covers the north, has said the Northern Powerhouse project should be abandoned and replaced with a new scheme, which it has described as Global North.

It says this would help the north of England have stronger relationships with fast-growing economies and new industries such as biotechnology and finance technology.

Stephen Purvis, the chairman of the group, said: “The Northern Powerhouse is over; the pet project of a former chancellor that is facing the wrong way in post-Brexit Britain.

“The importance of improving links, both physically and metaphorically, between northern cities and between the north and south has been overplayed. There are no natural historic trade connections between the north west and the north east and, while closer collaboration between the north west and Yorkshire is positive, it cannot be the blueprint for the entire north, especially in post-Brexit Britain.”

The group has suggested that a free trade zone in the north could generate £12bn a year for the north and create more than 600,000 jobs.

This brought comments from Cumbrian Conservative MP John Stevenson that the Northern Powerhouse was still very much alive and had opportunities for the county if people were “willing to seize them”.

To this Mr Thornton retorted: “Seize opportunities? To do this they need to be within reach. The government places these opportunities just out of reach then when you move closer it moves them somewhere else.

“Everything has changed. James Wharton, the former Northern Powerhouse minister, lost his seat in the General Election and Michael Heseltine was sacked by Theresa May. It is a constantly shifting sand.”

Mr Thornton went on to say that Cumbria was being starved of money and investment.

“We have been left with the short end of a very mucky stick and things need to change,” he adds.

“Councils in Cumbria are working together but need the funding. This county is being asked to provide the nation’s defence system and a high percentage of power if nuclear new-build goes ahead.

“We can't be expected to do all of this on the cheap without a decent road and rail network.”

David Pidduck, leader of Labour-run Barrow Council, is keen to see the Northern Powerhouse continue but with more investment in Cumbria and stronger links to the county.

“As far as Barrow is concerned, the Northern Powerhouse seems to stop at Preston,” he says.

“I get really frustrated when Cumbria is viewed as a farming and tourism area. Barrow is a top-of-the-tree industrial town. The things we manufacture are more complex that the space shuttle, yet the Northern Powerhouse thinks of us as a rural community.

“In terms of investment, we are always left behind, yet people in Barrow have always thought south. When they hit the motorway they turn right rather than left.

“I would like to see the Northern Powerhouse to continue on the basis that it works with us as a county. This would be better than starting all over again.”

Two weeks ago, Lancashire MP Jake Berry was named as the new Northern Powerhouse minister within the Department for Communities and Local Government following the resignation of Andrew Percy after less than a year in charge. He had succeeded James Wharton.

Mr Berry was due to visit Cumbria yesterday to see two sites in Carlisle - the city's airport and the University of Cumbria's STEM labs.