On the face of it, last year's Brexit referendum made politicians of all hues vow ‘never again' and promise a new commitment to shared prosperity and rebalancing the economy.

Yet one year on, where are we? Crossrail 2 is given the green light while the Department for Transport downgrades northern electrification (for context, London-Brighton was electrified a century ago) and Osborne's promised Manchester-Leeds high speed link looks in doubt. The stock list of excuses for this situation are frequently contradictory, often self-fulfilling and usually made by policy-makers living in London and the South East.