Though the levelling up agenda is supposedly at the top of the government's agenda, the phrase did not receive a single mention in Rishi Sunak's Spring Statement this week.

Some Northern leaders have called the Chancellor's mini-budget a "missed opportunity", and on The Northern Agenda podcast, we digest what it means - and what it misses - for the North.

Westminster editor Dan O'Donohue is joined by Dr Arianna Giovannini, the IPPR North's interim director, to respond to Sunak's 3,500-word Spring Statement.

She argues that though the Chancellor had "fairer and more progressive levers at his disposal", but he made the political decision not to pull them in his mini-Budget.

And this week, the shortlist for the 2025 UK City of Culture was announced with Northern bids from Bradford and County Durham making the final four.

Northern Agenda editor Rob Parsons speaks to Alison Clark, the lead for Durham 2025, who argues that their bid has turned the North East entry from a sleeping to waking giant.

The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons and Daniel O'Donoghue, and it is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.

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