John McDonnell to announce plans to shift political decision making to the north

The Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell will outline plans to shift the centre of political decision making from London to the North, in a speech in his home city of Liverpool today.

He will promise that a "powerful section of the Treasury" will be based in the north of England for an "irreversible shift in the balance of power and wealth in favour of working people" in his first major speech of the election campaign.

McDonnell is also set to announce £150 billion will be spent on a "Social Transformation Fund".

The money will be spent over the first five years of a Labour government, being used to expand schools, hospitals, care homes and council houses.

His counterpart Chancellor Sajid Javid is in Manchester today to announce Tory fiscal plans.

It comes as business leaders in the region have set out demands for a new government to give greater power to the north.

The Manifesto for the North outlines ambitions for clean growth, devolution, transport, education, investment and trade.

It seeks to enable the region to lead a green industrial revolution and address the over-centralisation of the UK economy.