WEST Yorkshire Mayor Tracy Brabin said while she was pleased with many elements of the Levelling Up paper, much more detail was needed.

And the annoucements still did not lessen the blow that the region would not be getting Northern Powerhouse Rail.

At a press conference minutes after the Government's new white paper on how to reduce inequality across the country was published, Ms Brabin said while there were many positives included in the 330 page document, she was not "doing cartwheels just yet."

She said although Michael Gove made some good pledges, he needed the rest of the Government to go along with them.

She argued that many of the big pledges in the white paper had already been announced, and others were just "cut and paste" from policies by previous Prime Ministers such as Gordon Brown and Theresa May.

Bradford Council leader calls for more detail on Levelling Up

Although new funding to transform brownfield sites in the region was welcomed, Ms Brabin said it still came with too much red tape.

She did, however, welcome news that more areas would get devolved powers and mayors.

The Telegraph & Argus asked if the paper offered any comfort for the people of Bradford after last year's announcement that the planned Northern Powerhouse Rail line, which would have brought a stop to Bradford city centre, had been scrapped.

She said: "That was a massive blow and quite shocking, as we'd been promised it by the Prime Minister himself, as well as a Leeds leg of HS2, and we didn't get either.

"Grant Shapps (Transport Secretary) wrote me a very terse letter saying it was disappointing that I referred to it as a betrayal, but what else could you call it?

"I don't understand why Government didn't see this as a unique opportunity, for Bradford in particular, for levelling up. Imagine how transformational that brand new station at St James' Market would have been.

"We're very frustrated Westminster don't see the potential of places like Bradford, Wakefield and Kirklees."

She said she would make the case "again and again" for investment in Bradford, and other places of "greatest need" - not just Leeds.

"If the Government spent what they wasted on fraud in Bradford you'd have to hold onto your hat, because Bradford would be able to achieve so much."

She was referring to recent reports that the treasury had written off £4.3 billion in Covid relief fraud.