CHINA is quietly buying up the North of England as 'Red' money funds 'Northern Powerhouse'

CONCERNS that Britain is effectively selling the Northern Powerhouse project to China have been raised, as a "red spread" of Asian investment across the UK's industrial cities continues.

By ROSS LOGAN

PUBLISHED: 04:56, Mon, Nov 21, 2016 | UPDATED: 08:40, Mon, Nov 21, 2016

Last week a fresh portfolio of investment opportunities worth £5 BILLION was offered to China, including projects in Manchester, Doncaster, Liverpool and Sheffield. 

That's after several major projects have already been agreed, including ia £1bn expansion of Manchester Airport; a hotel, leisure and residential complex in Sheffield worth another $1bn and the acquisition of Northumbria Water by Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings for £2.4bn. 

And it comes after Theresa May finally gave the green light to Hinkley Point C power plant, which is being partly financed by China General Nuclear. 

Supporters have hailed the new "Golden Era" of UK-China relations, promising the ties will bolster the economy, create jobs and reinvigorate the north of the with new infrastructure.

But sceptics have questioned the Government's readiness to pitch big-money projects to Chinese investors at the expense of British companies. 

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Britain has entered into a 'golden era' with China to boost UK infrastructure

The fate of Britain's steel industry is of particular concern, with fears the influx of cheaper Chinese metals is undercutting the competition and putting steelmaking business' at risk.

Those fears seemed to be realised a year ago, with the closure of the Redcar steel plant in Teeside.      

UKIP's Yorkshire MEP Mike Hookem, whose constituency includes areas hit by the steel crisis, said the problem was that "as a country we are no longer investing in our future."

"We are selling ourselves and our huge potential to the highest bidder but let's not forget that the £5bn coming from Chinese companies, who are not operating in a free market, is less than half of the UK's foreign aid budget.

"I am personally very concerned that we have foreign powers like China, France and Middle Eastern countries investing in Nuclear power, airports and day to day infrastructure like office blocks.

Hinckley point in particular is a disaster for Britain because the government 'negotiated' - and I use that term very loosely - a guaranteed fixed price of £92.50/MWh: a cost passed on directly to consumers and then a green subsidy stuck on top.

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Manchester City Council leader Sir Richard Leese, Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson and George Osborne

As a country we are no longer investing in our future

Mike Hookem MEP

"This goes right to the core of whether a government believes in the country and the people. 

"Successive governments have demonstrated they have not. I personally think we are undervaluing the talent and potential here in the UK. 

"Outside the EU we will have even more opportunity to exploit this."

UKIP MEP Mike Hookem

Announcing the £5bn portfolio, Chancellor Philip Hammond said: "As we seek to take to take the golden era of UK-China relations to the next step, we have a major opportunity to open up investment opportunities across the Northern Powerhouse.

"This portfolio, opening up billions of pounds of investment ready projects to Chinese investors, will support our work to grow and create jobs across the north, as well as underpin our ambitions to bring world class infrastructure to every corner of Britain."