Granada Steve Rotheram

Steve Rotheram visited Lennon's memorial during his visit to the States, where he hopes to drive trade, investment and tourism.

The government has pledged to loosen Whitehall’s "tight grip" over big cities and regions - scrapping "gimmicks and slogans" including the words 'levelling up'.

Andy Burnham and Steve Rotheram met with Kier Starmer, alongside the other mayors of England, hailing this as a 'new way of working' with government