A RUNCORN MP is calling for devolution for Cheshire.

Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury wants the county to be offered the same devolved powers as Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester.

Mr Amesbury said: “One side of my constituency, Halton, has devolution and an elected mayor.

“And with that comes finance and additional powers and yet the other side Cheshire West and Warrington doesn’t.

“When it comes to decision making we are better placed than Whitehall to make them.

“Central government must give us the power and resources to make this happen – but without demanding that the only way to do this is through a directly elected mayor.”

Liverpool City Region mayor Steve Rotheram believes Widnes and Runcorn will benefit from investment and growth by working together with the five other Merseyside authorities as well as developing plans and projects with Manchester.

He said: “It is all about collaboration, a new way of working.

“There is a lot of synergy in what we are trying to do across the six districts.

“There are things we wouldn’t have had a chance to do if Halton was on its own.

“Liverpool and Manchester are working collaboratively for the first time. We must put aside our tribal differences and get inward investment.

“It is a really exciting chapter in Halton’s history which I am certain will bear fruit.”

Securing the £21 million Alstom rail hub and technology centre in Widnes, he said, is testimony to Halton working in partnership with the City Region.

Mr Amesbury says Cheshire wants to be given the same chance to develop its potential but needs “the resources and powers to allow us to make this a reality.”

He added: “Liverpool City Region and Greater Manchester are rightly forging ahead with their plans to take the areas forward – but welcome as this progress is, my concern is that without the same powers, Cheshire could be left behind.

“True devolution and local decision making shouldn’t only be restricted to powers and funding – it has to be about governance too.”