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The new Northern Powerhouse minister has come under fire from Ian Lavery after an embarrassing slip-up saw him confuse the River Tyne and the River Wear.

Theresa May appointed Jake Berry MP to the role after the general election with a remit to take action to boost the North’s economy.

But on a visit to the region, the Liverpool-born MP didn’t seem entirely clued up on North East geography .

Standing on the New Wear Crossing, a bridge being built on over the Wear, he told the Sunderland Echo said it was the first time in four decades that a bridge would cross the Tyne.

A spokesperson from his office defended the minister, saying that it was an innocent slip of the tongue and that he meant to say Wear.

But for Mr Lavery, MP for Wansbeck and Jeremy Corbyn’s campaign chief, the faux pas revealed the government’s lack of engagement with the region.

(Image: Daily Mirror)

He said: “The North East is desperately looking for action and not another set of empty words from a politician who is clearly out of his comfort zone this far North.

“Whilst the Northern Powerhouse is yet another example of the Conservative Party’s style over substance, its paltry achievements thus far have barely registered in our communities.

“The North East region, with its 2.5 million people, has been airbrushed out of the Northern Powerhouse, simply due to it remaining a steadfast Labour heartland and for the minister to suddenly waltz into the area crowing about investment is quite frankly insulting.

“Our region remains a black spot for unemployment, zero hours contracts and the low wage economy, it lags behind other areas in terms of transport and infrastructure spending and people here more likely to die early than those in other parts of the country.

“We need deeds, not words on these, the real issues dogging our communities and for real investment so the talents of people living between the Scottish Borders and the Tees can be realised.”

The merits and failings of the Northern Powerhouse project have come under intense scrutiny over the summer.

Spearheaded by George Osborne while he was still Chancellor of the Exchequer, the initiative was billed as a comprehensive attempt to boost the North’s economy.

But a recent announcement by Chris Grayling that the electrification of Northern rail routes has been cancelled has led some political leaders in the region to demand more concrete investment.

Council bosses and mayors from Newcastle, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and Sheffield met in Leeds on Monday for a summit about transport in the North and called on the government to do more.

While visit Sunderland, Mr Berry defended the government’s record, saying: “I want to see investment in transport across the North.

“What we’ve seen for forty years at least is a failure of successive governments to invest in transport across the North.

“That’s why as part of this Northern Powerhouse - which, let’s not forget, is only three years old - we’ve promised to spend £13bn on transport across the North.

“That’s more than any government will ever have spent on transport in the North.”

Mr Osborne wrote in the Financial Times earlier this week that Theresa May must commit herself to the Northern Powerhouse agenda if she is to relaunch her ailing premiership.