London Mayor Boris Johnson has launched an "historic" campaign to take tax and spending powers from Whitehall and give them to the UK capital and England's other major cities so they have greater financial freedom, similar to the situation under devolution in Scotland.

The cities, representing around half the population of England, are demanding control over property taxes rather than allowing the money to go straight to the Treasury.

London has joined forces with the core cities of Birmingham, Bristol, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield in the power grab.

The authorities are calling for control over council tax, stamp duty, land tax and business rates with the ability to keep the revenues rather than relying on central government grants.

The cities claim this would provide stable and continuous funding to stimulate economic growth according to local needs.

Mr Johnson suggested the move could help address the wider issue of English devolution, which has been raised in light of the passing of powers to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

"It's a partial but positive and practical answer to the conundrum about English devolution and it is good not just for the cities involved but for the country at large," said the London Mayor, who speaks at the Conservative conference today.

The move follows a report earlier this year from the London School of Economics, which concluded that the UK capital should be given far greater economic freedom.