Chancellor ridiculed for his choice of words in tweet to describe the north of England

This article is more than 7 months old

This article is more than 7 months old

Sajid Javid has been mocked for describing the north of England as “north England”.

The phrase was trending on Twitter after the chancellor shared a photo of himself, Dominic Raab and Liz Truss on their way to Sunderland for a cabinet meeting on Brexit.

“On way to Cabinet meeting in north England with friends @DominicRaab @trussliz,” tweeted Javid.

But many mocked his phrasing on the social media site, including Javid’s political opponents.

“Just so you know, nobody in ‘north England’ calls it ‘north England’… happy to help,” tweeted the former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, MP for Westmorland and Lonsdale.

Alison McGovern, the Labour MP for Wirral South, tweeted: “‘north England’? It’s not a flipping Disney film, and you’re not our hero.”

The football commentator Clive Tyldesley also thought the term had fantastical undertones, tweeting: “Meetings with Jon Snow planned about The Wall and creation of Winterfell powerhouse.”

Another, anonymous author The Secret Barrister, responded: “Eee lad, we’re off to that there North England.”

Sajid Javid (@sajidjavid) On way to Cabinet meeting in north England with friends @DominicRaab @trussliz #BrexitDay pic.twitter.com/EuvoBfyGkE

Javid was born in Rochdale, Lancashire, in north-west England before his family later moved to Bristol in the south-west.

Cabinet members met at the National Glass Centre for the meeting, in which Boris Johnson told the 34 members a “new chapter in the United Kingdom’s story” would start after 11pm on Friday – the moment Britain will leave the European Union.

Johnson was heckled as he arrived at the venue in Sunderland, where he also met local business leaders.

Owen Valente, 20, a journalism student, filmed the moment Johnson arrived and told the PA news agency he was met with chants of “Boris you’re not welcome here” and “Tory cuts not welcome here”.

Earlier Johnson had joked that he was going through a midlife crisis. Before the cabinet meeting in the city, Johnson visited the University of Sunderland’s automotive and manufacturing centre.

As he sat in the 200kg student-built racing car, he said: “I have just got a motorbike.

“[It’s] a complete crisis, a midlife crisis. I have a 125cc, it’s the biggest joy of my life – apart from Brexit of course.”

As he clambered into the racing car, he said: “Normally I’m not allowed in, I need a block and tackle to get me out.”

Johnson also sat in a hydrogen-powered car during the visit.

The design site is on the edge of the city centre and close to the Nissan plant, with which it has close links. It is a centre for training and research for engineering students.