Interview: George Osborne – “Whatever you’re doing in terms of devolution, double it. In terms of local taxation, double it.”

In the run up to the White Paper on Levelling Up, our interview with the former Chancellor opens this week’s ConHome series on localism.

Ben Houchen: Achieving hydrogen heat for the nation is worth investing in – as Teesside can prove

We’re also doing outstanding research into green hydrogen, whose production can become increasingly affordable.

Johnson puts the case for more localism in England. Now he must deliver it.

The more radical his plans are, the more resistance there will be. But one can’t serve up a municipal omelette without breaking eggs.

Guy Opperman: In the North East, Labour’s Red Wall continues to crumble – here’s where we can win next

In my view, no Labour seat in County Durham is safe. The remaining seats all have majorities under 6,000.

Daniel Hannan: A Levelling Up Fund will not, on its own, turn Sunderland into Singapore. Localism will take us closer, though.

We left the EU precisely to take back control. Having repatriated power, we mustn’t leave it in the hands of Whitehall functionaries.

The pragmatic, moderate and successful conservatism of Andy Street

He’s proof that your boat can be swept along by the same tide as others, but how you steer it is a matter of individual style.

Houchen. He’s patriotic. Even more importantly – he delivers.

Labour isn’t focused on the second, preferring to blame others for problems, and too many of its activists aren’t the first, either.

Nick Faith: The UK is well placed to emerge from the pandemic in a stronger position over time. Here’s how we do it.

The National Prosperity Plan has five core areas to boost the country’s economic recovery and future.

Richard Holden: The Stockton South Test – and four others for Starmer, as the run-in for next week’s elections gathers pace

Will it be: Keir On Course, So-So Starmer…or a Knightmare for the Labour Party in Hartlepool – and elsewhere?

Ed Birkett: Biden will spend big to help slow climate change. Johnson won’t. He doesn’t need to. Here’s why.

Splashing taxpayers’ cash is the President’s only reliable option. The Prime Minister has other tools at his disposal.

Richard Holden: This spring’s local elections. For levelling-up to work, we need local councils and leaders who back it.

The sad truth is that many local Labour councils and local bureaucracies don’t want it: they’re scared of it.

The Budget. Sunak’s strong message that operation “level up” is under way.

The Government got “Brexit done” – and now wants to deliver on its pledge to spread “opportunity across the whole United Kingdom”.

Ben Houchen: The Budget. On Wednesday, Sunak must hear the voice of the North – and kickstart a new era of job creation.

The “Red Wall” communities in my area overwhelmingly backed Johnson in the last election, and it’s essential that the faith they put in him is returned.

Is Johnson under-promising on opening-up in order to over-deliver?

What a bracing springboard it would be to bounce into the local elections with normality returning faster than expected.

Jonathan Werran: The Union and the English question. The answer is to let a hundred localist flowers bloom

The first in a five-part ConHome series this week on the future of the United Kingdom.