The entrance to Workington harbour, with the fells of the Lake District beyond.
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Research has long shown that globally, left-behind communities are less likely to vote in either local or general elections, largely because they feel neglected by the political process.
Birmingham’s Curzon Street station under construction: the demise of the HS2 project shows how levelling up has floundered.
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Despite a decade of Northern Powerhouse and levelling up, England remains thoroughly divided.
Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Michael Gove addresses the Convention of the North in Leeds in March 2024.
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English councils have neither the ongoing funding or the staffing needed to effectively deliver on the government’s economic development promises.
Since May 2024, an elected mayor of the north-east has been leading a new authority spanning Northumberland, Tyne & Wear and County Durham.
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Years of political turbulence, economic shocks and the failure to ‘level up’ as pledged have turned English devolution into a key political and constitutional issue
Big Local projects are about getting involved.
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A nine-year study shows local projects to tackle inequality can themselves cause inequalities among the people who get involved.
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Angela Rayner’s expansive policy brief faces the threat of ‘short-termism’ perhaps more than any other. If Labour win power, will Rayner be able to fight against these short-term political incentives?
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Infrastructure development in Northern England has been increasingly muddled in recent years. Few will be convinced by Sunak’s new pledge to fix this.
A woman walks past an ad for HS2 by the Curzon Street station in Birmingham.
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With all delays on this train line over the last decade, it may have been a costly distraction from other projects that could have contributed to levelling up in the meantime.
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Economists do not have the analytical tools to properly measure the full value of a megaproject. Deciding on whether to pull the plug or not is always a political matter.
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More than a decade of austerity in English local government has squeezed councils to their utter financial limits.
City leaders often appear reluctant to discuss London’t role in growing levels of regional inequality.
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Business bosses appear reluctant to take part in open debate about their firms’ contribution to growing regional inequalities.
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Why addressing inequality in ‘left-behind’ places requires more than ‘levelling up’.
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Customs provide crucial scrutiny of goods, processes and documentation. UK freeports will only succeed with similarly robust measures in place.
‘Levelling up’ aims to address economic and social imbalances across the UK – but is it working?
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Preparing a bid for such funding can cost project hopefuls up to £30,000.
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Certain parts of the UK are classed as “left behind” and will feel the effects of an economic downturn more acutely than others.
Keir Starmer with Gordon Brown and Scottish Labour party leader Anas Sarwar, both of whom served on the review panel.
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The plan to abolish the House of Lords has drawn the most attention but Labour is also proposing radical changes to how power is distributed.
Rising levels of homelessness and rent arrears in council housing show how deeply austerity measures have harmed society.
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Cuts to public spending do not actually result in efficiency savings because they cause more problems for people than they solve.
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Whether moving away is a good idea depends as much on a young person’s aspirations as it does on their resources. Staying put – or moving back – does not necessarily mean personal failure.
Thousands of dead and dying crustaceans were found along Teesside’s coastlines last year.
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A mass die-off of crustaceans occurred on England’s north-east coast last autumn – the government’s explanation of the cause is unlikely to be true.
Liz Truss, mid-speech.
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In her first party conference speech as prime minister, Liz Truss has emphasised that growth is the only solution.