Plan for Northern Olympics to get £7m in Healey's Budget

The full feasibility study will look in detail at how hosting the Games in northern England could work. Team GB at the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris A £7m fund to explore how the Olympics could be brought to northern England will be announced in John Healey's first Budget on Wednesday, the BBC has learned. The chancellor plans to allocate the money for a full feasibility study on the possibility for a bid for a "Northern Games". If successful, it could see the games held in the North in the 2040s. The last time the UK hosted the Olympics was London 2012. A UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) department report estimated in 2013 it boosted the economy by £9.9bn, although the amount was met with some scepticism.

Prime Minister Andy Burnham told the BBC: "Few things bring a country together quite like the Olympics. I want people to feel that sense of excitement again, and to experience it in their own towns and communities, not just watch it on the telly. "The Games would unlock opportunity across our towns and cities for the whole country. From north to south, it would be something everyone could get behind and be proud of. "We know we can put on the greatest show on earth. Now we want to