Cash for London we will applaud.

It is not often we applaud news of money being allocated to public infrastructure projects in London. But we will make an exception on hearing that King's Cross station is to get a much-needed facelift.

There is no reminder quite so powerful of how great life is up North than to disembark from your train into the heaving, sweating, surging mass of bodies that swirl round the cramped concourse of King's Cross.

Returning home is even more of a nightmare ( stuck in those oppressive queues praying for a platform number to be announced.

How sad it has been that the country's best railway service should be paired with the capital's grimmest station.

But perhaps not for much longer. The finance is in place to sweep away that ugly, low modern concourse, replacing it with a more spacious alternative alongside the historic station. We can even excuse the eye-popping pounds 400m the scheme will cost.

What has prompted this largesse from a Government, as we note above, not renowned for its support of rail or infrastructure projects benefiting the North East?

Aha! It is all tied in to the Channel Tunnel rail link terminal being created at nearby St Pancras.

And we thought it might have been for us!