When analysing the North/South divide, many subjects spring to mind. Infrastructure spending, the state of public transport, health inequalities. Sadly, whatever the topic, our region very rarely comes out on top.

But there is something even more shocking about the findings in our latest investigation, which has uncovered refugees are being abandoned by authorities in the south and sent to the North East without any support.

Read more: Refugees being moved from London and up to County Durham

Many of the refugees being sent to the region speak little English and are being put in homes which are not suitable for use. One family had no gas or electricity when they arrived in a house that had not been occupied for years. Others have been sent to accommodation with no carpets, no curtains, no furniture, as well as damp and broken windows.

Of course, we pride ourselves on being a welcoming and inclusive part of the world, and this includes taking part in the Government refugee resettlement programmes to take our fair share of people which is proportionate to the size of our population.

But this is a completely separate issue. We are being asked to look after some of the most vulnerable people in society, without prior knowledge, resource or support. We are putting them at risk along with thousands of others in our region who are desperately waiting for help.

This is not about levelling up funding or a fair distribution of wealth and resources. This is about our region once again being treated as second class by those in the capital. London might have its own housing crisis, but we have 75,000 families stuck for months waiting for social housing, more than 300 homeless children, and rent rising seven per cent in the last year alone.

Read more: MPs slam London councils moving refugees to County Durham

Our issues aren’t less important because we are further away from Westminster. London authorities outsourcing their responsibilities to regions already grappling with deprivation, without sufficient funding or resources, is unacceptable.

Labour MPs in the region have rightly described these revelations as immoral and abhorrent. But they are not in opposition anymore, and the Government needs to urgently address this before it puts even more pressure on our already stretched public and support services in the region.

The North East cannot be used as a dumping ground for the south to abandon all responsibilities for their problems.