United Kingdom
I am a Research Fellow, working on regional economics, devolution, northern transport and a radical reimagining of how we govern ourselves in the North & England's regions
Jeremy Hunt demonstrated poor economic thinking and failed to deal with the immediate cost-of-living emergency and the need to level up the UK, argues Marcus Johns
There were some signs of a commitment to levelling up in Jeremy Hunt's Spring statement, but people in the North will be left frustrated by the pace of change, writes Marcus Johns
Devolution in England is a positive step, but the balance of power is still overwhelming tipped in favour of Whitehall, and pots of money - like the Levelling Up Fund - remain centrally controlled and come with far too many strings attached.
By Marcus Johns | 07 July 2021 As is so often the case with Whitehall, the plan is opaque on the role of devolution, local leaders, and regional bodies like Transport for the North. Meanwhile, Government drags its feet on other plans for rail in the North, like commitment to HS2, Northern Powerhouse Rail, and generally any rail investment.
It is not too late for the chancellor to show the government is serious about its aim of ‘levelling up’, says IPPR North’s Marcus Johns.
England has seen three national lockdowns and additional local restrictions during the Covid-19 pandemic. Public transport patronage across the country and its city regions collapsed during the first lockdown, falling by over 90% across Greater Manchester's transport network in March 2020. At times, bus operators struggled to provide full service as staff shielded from the virus.
Whitehall doesn't know best. The UK entered the Covid-19 pandemic with deep and growing divides between and within our regions. Long-standing imbalances in investment and a decade of austerity have left the north's economy vulnerable to shocks - which came thick and fast in 2020.
Ten Years of the Austerity Crisis By Marcus Johns, IPPR North On June 22nd, 2010, the then Chancellor delivered his first budget. He said: "we are all in this together." He said his Government would "protect the most vulnerable in our society." That budget started the imposition of a decade of austerity.
This crisis has highlighted our collective dependence on the many workers who are poorly paid but without whom society would cease tofunction. Once referred to as 'low skilled, low paid', they are now called 'essential' and 'key'. This is a shift in our outlook that we need to heed.
Yesterday, the National Living Wage rose to £8.21 an hour, benefitting 2.4 million workers. But those workers are still paid less than they need to live -79p an hour less than the Real Living Wage of £9 an hour outside London.