What would a ‘No10 in the North’ under a Prime Minister Burnham mean for London? Is it possible to devolve power, and spread wealth, across the country without undermining the economic engine of the nation? ANDREW FISHER sifts through some of the first indications of what Burnham might bring to the job – can he be Our Friend In The North?
As one door opens…: Andy Burnham wants to divide his time as PM between the regions
The North-South divide is one of the most enduring stories of English life.
The folklore of Dick Whittington, a servant boy fleeing the north to come to London to seek his fortune where the streets are paved with gold is perhaps the oldest such tale, but there are many modern versions.
Phrases such as “it’s grim up north” tell of the sense that the capital’s hinterlands are neglected hellscapes, while London and the south-east are a land of milk and honey.
Data dispels such myths. The Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s analysis of government data shows 26% of people in London living in poverty, compared to 23% in the north-west of England and 21% in the north-east (19% in south-east England live in poverty). London currently has the highest rate of unemployment of all the country’s regions and nations at 6.6%, compared to 5.1% averaged across England.
Andy Burnham, our incoming Prime Minister, burnished his credentials as the Mayor of Greater Manchester. It was in that role that the media dubbed him “The King of the North” for standing up against then Prime Minister’s Boris Johnson’s imposition of harsher lockdown rules with less compensatory measures than were given to London, describing the imposed measures as “a punishment beating” for the north-west.
The true face of England: facts show there is more deprivation in London than in any other region of the country
Burnham has also previously complained that infrastructure investment to London and the south-east is greater than to areas like Greater Manchester.
Here, the figures bear him out. Capital spending is highest in London, followed by the south-east. The north-west receives one-third less in capital spending per head of population – though that is much better than the south-west, which only gets half as much public investment as London.
The last Tory government recognised these imbalances by promising “Levelling Up” – a slogan that never translated into substantial policy or real, consistent action. Indeed, Rishi Sunak, when he was Chancellor, told a gathering of Conservative activists in leafy Tunbridge Wells, “I managed to start changing the funding formulas, to make sure areas like this are getting the funding they deserve.”
Sunak went on: “We inherited a bunch of formulas from Labour that shoved all the funding into deprived urban areas and that needed to be undone.”
Economic growth is highest in London, which is in part due to higher levels of public investment, but Britain is also one of the most centralised countries in the world – with the capital not just serving as the political centre, but as the undisputed financial, cultural and transport capital of the UK.
Compare this to countries like Germany, where power is more dispersed to regional government – and major cities like Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne and Munich are powerful counterweights to Berlin. In other countries like Australia (Canberra), Canada (Ottawa) and the United States (Washington DC), the capital is not even one of the largest cities.
Burnham has said he wants London to remain “the world’s greatest capital city”. But he has also announced that he will create a second No10 operation in the north of England to “rebalance the economy”. It is an understandable response, informed by his frustrations as Manchester Mayor at the limited powers devolved to England’s regions.
All this talk of rebalancing the economy and powering up the north need not necessarily be bad news for London.
London’s contribution to the UK economy is far in excess of its relative population – 22% of total UK GDP, despite accounting for just 13% of the population. London has the highest levels of foreign direct investment and the highest wages, and the high housing costs to match.
Keen of the south: more devolution could help London, says Sir Sadiq Khan
London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said that “we must use the potential of our capital to boost the national economy and raise living standards – for the benefit of Londoners and people right across the country”
So anything that’s bad f.or London’s economy might have an outsized impact on the national economy. But Burnham would argue that with similar focus and investment, the rest of the country could raise its outputs to levels closer to London. Britain should be firing on all cylinders, not just relying on one.
The economy is not a zero-sum game. Encouraging growth or boosting investment in other regions and nations does not necessarily harm London.
Burnham took to The London Standard to pitch directly to Londoners, name-checking Croydon twice.
In the article published yesterday, Burnham said: “The whole country suffers when the regions and nations fail to meet their potential. We will never get growth up to the level Britain needs unless every single postcode in the land is set up to contribute to it.”
Name checked: Burnham mentioned Croydon twice in his ‘London manifesto’ published by the Standard
In London, our high child poverty rates and unemployment levels show that London needs its own rebalancing. Too much of the focus in London is on the financial services centred around the city of London, not enough on other sectors of the economy.
Burnham’s talk of public control of utilities could mean some relief for Londoners with the financially and morally bankrupt Thames Water being brought back into public ownership. The frequent polluter hiked Londoners’ water bills by 26% last year. Burnham has also pledged cheaper transport fares and massive council housebuilding – much needed in London.
Can Burnham rebalance the economy without harming London, maybe even boosting it? I tend to think his diagnosis is broadly right, but the test will be whether he can deliver.
Top cast: Our Friends In The North, from 1996, featured (from left) Christopher Eccleston, Gina McKee, Mark Strong and Daniel Craig
- The arrival of the King of the North in 10 Downing Street coincides with a repeat run for Our Friends In The North – the lauded BBC drama that has its 30th anniversary this year. The series, set in the north-east, featured Christopher Eccleston before he became Doctor Who, and provided Daniel Craig with his breakthrough role which led to him capturing the part of James Bond, 007. Andy Burnham will be the seventh Prime Minister of my son’s life, and Burnham faces his own battles with bond, bond markets.
Andrew Fisher also conducts a podcast interview with a leading academic, sector expert or political figure. The latest Andrew Fisher Interview was with Paul Foot Award-winning Peter Geoghegan. To listen to this fascinating interview, premium content available free to Inside Croydon’s paying subscribers, click here
- From 2015 to 2019, Andrew Fisher was the Labour Party’s Director of Policy under Jeremy Corbyn
- Fisher is also the author of The Failed Experiment – and how to build an economy that works, and now writes columns for InsideCroydon, the i newspaper and is a regular pundit on BBC and Sky News programmes
Andrew Fisher’s recent columns:
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