🥊 Why Ruth Hannan has picked a fight with Northern Powerhouse Partnership chairman Lord Jim O'Neill

Should Labour party bosses in Westminster or local party members be in charge of who the party puts forward for the biggest political jobs? Labour leader Keir Starmer is facing severe criticism this week for excluding the left-wing North of Tyne mayor Jamie Driscoll from the Labour shortlist to be the first ever metro mayor of the North East. And there's been a huge backlash to the Government's plans to house hundreds of asylum seekers in barges, with Merseyside and Teesside the reported sites the Government are looking at. Rob Parsons looks at both these stories with Ruth Hannan, who's based in Manchester and is a director of the People's Powerhouse, a movement that aims to bring Northerners together to have a say on what the future of the North should be. And she explains why she's picked a fight with Northern Powerhouse Partnership chairman Lord Jim O'Neill after he set out how growth, investment and high wages should be the cornerstone of the North's future. *** Don't forget you can now watch the best interviews from The Northern Agenda podcast on YouTube - check out our playlist at https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLzE0rXt9oGq2nfc3VHw-Pzx1tttiLpP6z *** The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons, and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin. You can subscribe to the daily Northern Agenda newsletter here: http://www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices