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They have been described as the “greatest threat to Boris Johnson’s authority since he came to power,” with the potential to cause as much trouble as Jacob Rees-Mogg’s power base during the Brexit negotiations.
Led by Jake Berry, the former Northern Power Minister, more than 50 Conservative MPs in Northern England, the Scottish Borders and North Wales have written to the Prime Minister demanding a roadmap out of the coronavirus lockdown and investment to address the north-south. a division that governments “have not addressed for decades.”
Taking a sheet from Rees-Mogg’s influential European Research Group (ERG), the tough Brexiters who ultimately cost Theresa May her job, MPs call themselves the Northern Research Group (NRG). They will commission an investigation into their topics of interest and have contacted the unions.
Like the ERG, the group has the potential to be another part of a party; It has 55 members, 20 more than previously thought.
The 41 signatories to the letter (14 remain anonymous and are believed to include serving members of the government) include four former cabinet ministers, former Brexit Secretary David Davis, former Housing Minister Esther McVey, former Scottish Secretary David Mundell and former Welsh Secretary and current ERG Vice President David Jones.
As with the ERG, the group appears to be very organized and has been meeting for several weeks via the Zoom video chat site. It has now laid out its policy goals: a rebalancing of infrastructure funds, with priority investment demands in a transpennine “Northern Powerhouse Rail”, strategic development corridors and ultra-fast broadband.
William Wragg, a Hazel Grove MP and NRG member, said the coronavirus pandemic had only exacerbated the need for “a good deal for the north by the government,” adding: “This is not about passing the government a Difficult moment”. The Prime Minister shares our collective priority. But there are convincing and constructive arguments that we, as a group of parliamentarians from the north, can present to the government on how it fulfills its promise to level the north. “
If Johnson has concerns about a power base to rival Downing Street, he didn’t bring them up when he discussed the NRG with Berry a few weeks ago.
“He was absolutely supportive. I think his exact words were ‘I order you to go out and mount this group’. I don’t know how he feels about it this week, but I think at the time he thought it was brilliant, “Berry told the Spectator last week.
Some believe that Covid-19 has fueled the NRG. “Many of these MPs are new, they have barely been to Westminster and they have not been exposed to the discipline of the whip office,” said a former member of the government.
“They have also seen, after the rebellion of the internal market law, that 40 deputies are not needed to obtain an answer. This idea that Johnson could have a tight grip on things due to his 80-seat majority has been shown not to be the case. [There were] only a handful of MPs rebelled over that bill, but Downing Street reacted immediately. “
If the NRG follows the ERG’s model, Johnson may find himself facing a group with a slick media operation to rival Downing Street and the potential to vote as a large secondary bloc.
The group supports decentralized governments and wants mayors to have “spending and tax powers” so they can drive change in the north of England, something that may be anathema to Johnson after his tough battle with the mayor of Greater Manchester. Andy Burnham.
Berry described the group as “a union of parliamentarians from the north” and said he had spoken to the Trade Union Congress about joint projects. “If that ruffles the feathers at the Tory party? Boohoo, ”he told the Spectator.
