“National missions”, “system change”, “devolution revolution” — the Levelling Up White Paper is high on rhetorical flourishes. But what everyone wants to know, from Bromley to Blackpool, is — will this make their lives better?
The metrics appear sensible: raising living standards in every area of the UK, more high-quality skills training, reducing the gap in healthy life expectancy and rolling out nationwide gigabit-capable broadband.
This newspaper supports levelling up because Londoners embrace equality of opportunity and fulfilling the potential of all. But we also have reason to be wary of a government that has shown little interest in the capital, its people and potential.
Indeed, many of the references to London refer to shifting investment and attention away from our city, or by promising “London-style” public transport systems. We ask that TfL not be forgotten or left to post-pandemic decline.
While London is the engine of the UK economy, it was hit first and hit hardest by Covid-19. We therefore need a government with a clear focus on our economic recovery, without which there can be no national recovery.
At the same time, levelling up should not simply be about geography, but about need. Our city has some of the highest levels of inequality and deepest pockets of deprivation in the country.
Millions of Londoners are crying out for more support, and their calls are no less pressing simply because they happen to live south of the Watford Gap.
Ultimately, prosperity is not a zero-sum game. It will not be engendered by populist language about metropolitan elites. London’s success should neither be taken for granted nor resented.
Instead, it should form a blueprint for the country. Having a capital known around the world for its economic dynamism, cultural diversity and openness to all-comers should be a matter of pride.
