Proposals to lift Manchester “out of the doldrums” as part of a sweeping plan to devolve power to cities was outlined yesterday by think tank ResPublica.

It leapt on the Scottish independence bandwagon with a call for a version of English devolution that would see control over property and income taxes passed to big urban areas.

ResPublica director Phillip Blond argued that the Manchester pilot should also see a directly elected mayor — a proposal opposed by some democracy campaigners who warn it centralises power.

The ideas contained in the Devo-Max — Devo-Manc report were praised by Commons political and constitutional reform committee chair, Labour’s Graham Allan, who said it “showed how” devolution south of the border could look.

“What’s good for Scotland is good for England too,” he said.

But Tory Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles, whose party has systematically stripped councils and cities of financial autonomy since the 1970s, claimed that handing powers back was “not the answer.”