He may be editing a London newspaper but the former chancellor still has his eye on developing the 鈥榥orthern powerhouse鈥� that he championed in government. Here, we give a glimpse of tomorrow鈥檚 interview, in which George Osborne talks infrastructure, skills and Brexit with 好色先生TV
Osborne on Brexit:
鈥淭he risk is twofold鈥� the first is you get delayed investment and new projects don鈥檛 go ahead because people are uncertain about arrangements with Europe and its future. Second, there鈥檚 a challenge of access to the necessary labour. The construction industry has a long tradition of using talented people from across Europe鈥�
Osborne on trade links:
鈥淭he Germans trade a lot more with China than we do and they鈥檙e in the EU鈥�
Osborne on the 鈥渘orthern powerhouse鈥�:
鈥淭his is not just a commitment to the north of England, it鈥檚 a very specific economic idea to bring the cities of the North more closely together, to make the whole bigger than its parts鈥�
Osborne on devolution:
鈥淭here are a lot of things happening in the northern powerhouse that don鈥檛 really depend on the government. I think if the northern powerhouse solely depended on any one government, or any one chancellor, then it鈥檚 not going to work as a long-term idea鈥�
Osborne on investment:
鈥淲e need government in investment in transport links. We set in train plans for the Trans-Pennine rail links being much better鈥� we now need the government to commit to those fast, cross-the-North train links and the opportunity to do that comes this autumn with the Budget鈥�
Read 叠耻颈濒诲颈苍驳鈥檚 full interview with George Osborne in print and online from Friday
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