Greater Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham has claimed that Northerners face discrimination in "certain walks of life" in London.

Mr Burnham, who left his role as an Westminster MP to become the region's mayor in 2017, said people from the North are "different" and faced problems in the capital.

In an interview for the August edition of British GQ magazine he also called Westminster "basically dysfunctional".

Mr Burnham said: "I feel that northerners face discrimination in certain walks of life in London.

"How many Labour prime ministers have come from the north of England?

"And, yes, I think that we are different."

Harold Wilson, from Huddersfield, was the only Labour prime minister born in northern England.

Mr Burnham said Westminster had become "a living nightmare" and suggested the rise of social media was partly to blame.

(Image: Newcastle Chronicle)

"The place is antiquated. And basically dysfunctional," he said.

"Social media changed everything. Before, it managed to run on, like an old clock.

"With social media in parliament, you can't make sense of it any more. It can't agree about anything. It can't do anything."

(Image: Tim Ireland/PA Wire)

He added: "It's a bizarre place, with a deeply dysfunctional atmosphere. I don't miss it in the slightest. It's just poisonous now."

Mr Burnham also warned that a second referendum on Brexit should only be used to stop a no-deal exit from the European Union - whereas Labour's official policy has evolved to say there should be a vote on any deal that emerges from Parliament.

The Greater Manchester mayor said: "As difficult as it is, I think the public interest still lies in doing a moderate Brexit deal.

"Anything else risks divisions that will last for generations."

The full interview can be seen in the August edition of British GQ, out on July 5.