PM to spend first day working from northern branch of No 10

Andy Burnham is set to spend his first day working at the northern branch of Downing Street. No 10 North in Manchester will form part of the prime minister's aim to shift power from Whitehall and Westminster to regions across the country. Ministers Lucy Powell and Louise Haigh will also operate regularly from the new site, with up to 300 civil servants expected to join them by the end of next year. On Friday in Manchester Burnham will chair a meeting of the National Economic Council, a cabinet committee first launched in 2008 to respond to economic challenges around the UK. Ahead of that meeting, the PM said: For 40 years, power and resources have been sucked into the centre, and too many communities have felt forgotten, without the attention and investment they deserve.