Andy Burnham has made good growth in every postcode, the central premise of his premiership.

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He has opened No 10 North in Manchester, and he talks of remaking our economic model to reindustrialise Britain and bring good jobs back to the regions.

This is a refreshing argument to hear from a Prime Minister. Some of us have been banging this drum for years; indeed since 2017 I have been putting it into practice across the Tees Valley. But the way to do this is action, not words.

So compare the words with the action. Ministers spend their days telling pension funds and international businesses that Britain is open for their capital.

But growth in every postcode does not come from Whitehall. It arrives when a company decides to risk its shareholders' money building something real in Billingham or Redcar, rather than in Texas or Rotterdam. The bargain underneath that invitation is a simple one: an investor who commits money here under a lawful contract is entitled to assume the British state will honour it.

Which brings me to the action as seen in the Railways Bill, and a clause few outside the industry have noticed. Clause 71 looks innocuous, but in practice it would hand........

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