The writer is a former UK deputy prime minister
Word has reached me that Boris Johnson, the prime minister, has described himself as a “Brexity Hezza”.
The government’s rescue this week of regional airline Flybe has raised questions about its industrial strategy and devolution agenda. I was the minister responsible for the rescue of Rolls-Royce in 1971. Both decisions show in stark terms the interdependence of public and private sectors in modern economies.
Mr Johnson has talked about “levelling up” — raising the level of economic performance in all parts of the UK towards those of London. Liverpool, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle, Bristol and other large local economies will be crucial to that endeavour while Britain faces a cold climate as it leaves the EU. The pride and power that enabled them to make this country what it became must be restored. London should, once again, be their partner, not their master.
The government has a window of opportunity. It has the majority to confront the forces of inertia and drive the changes that have been avoided for too long. But the euphoria won’t last. New ministers will settle into their Whitehall bunkers and events will intervene to derail priorities. There are no short-term fixes. Decisions to invest take years to mature and show results.
The window will remain open through the much heralded cabinet reshuffle and the Budget that will follow it. Two months from now, the shape of this government’s programmes will be in place. Every subsequent month consolidates the original decisions and fritters away the time available to plan, design, consult, contract and build.
I was asked by the government of Mr Johnson’s predecessor but one, David Cameron, to produce three reports outlining the necessary agenda: Rebalancing Britain: Policy or Slogan (2011); No Stone Unturned: in pursuit of growth (2012); and Tees Valley: Opportunity Unlimited (2016). A fourth report, Empowering English Cities, was commissioned by six provincial city mayors in 2019. It followed my own Industrial Strategy published in 2017
No Stone Unturned persuaded Mr Cameron and George Osborne, then chancellor, to adopt the devolution agenda and pioneer the Northern Powerhouse. That agenda needs reigniting. Here are the essential first steps.
Government itself must change. The eight mayoral combined authorities are increasingly expected to answer complex questions about their local economies, industrial strategy and social provision. Their answers will reflect the interrelationship of the local community and its economy. But these authorities answer to individual Whitehall departments. There is no effective co-ordinating machinery in London, and no minister responsible for driving the devolution agenda.
The reshuffle should create a senior minister to drive devolution. The local offices of the relevant departments are spread like measles across provincial cities. They should be concentrated in a range of locations each under a senior official.
The prime minister should implement his election pledge to raise the powers of all conurbation mayors to those enjoyed by the mayor of the Greater Manchester combined authority, Andy Burnham. Furthermore, the Boundary Commission should review current mayoral boundaries and re-draw them based on actual local economies.
The roles of mayor and police commissioner should be combined. Most crime arises from complex causes. Fighting the drug barons, incipient terrorism or the search for respect at the point of a knife cannot just be dumped at the feet of the police. Parents, schools, social workers and housing authorities have a role to play.
The government needs to encourage the mayors, the private sector, academia and the third sector to work together by distributing capital funding on a competitive basis against detailed proposals.
New conurbation authorities should be created, preferably in Greater Yorkshire or, at the very least, Leeds, and in Nottingham, Derby, Portsmouth and Southampton. Meanwhile, the present arrangements in the counties are chaotic. This is quite incompatible with the powerful wealth-creating role they should play. With their military and sporting traditions, counties are well-placed to inspire loyalty. Sadly, the incoherence of the existing set-up represents only the self-interest of local politicians and their party affiliations. A plan for unitary counties with devolved powers and finance, and elected mayors, should be prepared for implementation by this autumn.
Select committees should be established in both Houses to comment and advise on devolution. The rest of the country outside London must not be left behind.
