I have long felt Labour’s 2024 moment would prove more significant for the running of the country than its 1997 moment – and so it has already proved. The historic gathering of England’s mayors with the new prime minister and deputy prime minister around the cabinet table on Tuesday, just a few days after the election, confirms that the 2024 to 2029 parliament is going to be different to any that has gone before it.
At the very start, the clearest of instructions has been sent directly into the heart of the Whitehall system: the devolution of power can no longer justifiably be resisted. If the new government is going to generate the economic growth it needs in all parts of the UK, its regions and nations must be empowered with immediate effect.
