Tony Blair, New Labour And The North South Divide

DESPITE a newly-elected Tony Blair’s pledge to reduce the gap between north and south, the divide is now wider than ever as prepares to leave No. 10. (Pic: Beau Bo D’Or)

That’s the gyst of a new report by consultants Experian Business Strategies, who have found that UK economic growth is increasingly concentrated in the south east, with the rest of the country struggling in comparison.

Andrew Burrell of Experian explains: “In the past, the global cycle was heavily associated with manufacturing and the northern industrial heartlands but as successive recessions shrank this sector, international finance and the City of London have become more and more essential to the UK’s economic growth”.

While the likes of Cardiff, Edinburgh, Leeds and Manchester are mentioned in the report for delivering strong economic growth, overall, a “two-tier” economy has arrived with the north, in particular, trailing behind.

“New Labour came to power 10 years ago, aiming to reduce regional differentials and improve the relative performance of the north,” says Burrell, “To some extent, this was achieved during the first half of the decade, but this was only relative to the effect of a global slump on the south and massive government public spending in the north. Overall, the north’s performance has remained remarkably flat and unspectacular.”

Incidentally, Tony Blair has a big house near Hyde Park…

Anorak

Posted: 19th, June 2007 | In: Uncategorized Comment (1) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink