Levelling up

Is the purpose of levelling up is making London less important so that people don’t know to leave their homes for London. If so, will this make properties less expensive in London and the South East?

Reply 1

xxKittyxx

The purpose of Levelling Up is to say a lot of hot air to keep working class "red wall" voters voting Conservative despite having very little in terms of substantive policies.

It is the spiritual successor to the Northern Powerhouse that quietly disappeared after failing to deliver anything beyond providing some very lucrative opportunities to consultants with the right political connections.

Reply 2

Rakas21

Levelling up is not zero sum however yes, there would over time be less of an incentive to head south.

As alluded to above though, levelling up is an abstract concept requiring far more money than the current government (or even Labour party) are prepared to engage in.

Reply 3

imlikeahermit

You cannot change the mentality. This is what I find utterly bizarre about this ‘levelling up’ policy. I live up north. It’s a shithole. Always has been, and always will be. That’s not necessarily because it’s been underfunded, it’s because of the people. Constant excuses being made for why they’re poor. You could chuck a blank cheque at these chavs, it’s not going to make them want to work anymore; when they can still pick up their gyro and drink their Fosters. Levelling up will not change people.

Reply 4

Jingo7

Levelling up is a cringe-worthy attempt by people who've never heard of Twitch to produce a video-game style soundbite that will fill in the ambiguous empty space people have regarding regional economic disparity in the UK. It means literally nothing, nor will it ever mean anything. Kitty is correct, it is similar to the 'Northern Powerhouse' soundbite that died quietly after Cameron and Osbourne were eclipsed.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 5

Jingo7

To add some substance to my post here.

We will never see significant 'levelling-up' of the north of England without also having an honest conversation about what London actually is, and why the South East is over-developed in comparison with the North. London has more jobs/higher property prices etc. not because of some random reason. It is because London is one of the centres of global finance capital. London eats profit which is extracted from the labour of the global South (amongst other things). It also more frequently engages in worthless speculation on literally useless things (like debt derivatives, cryptocurrencies, short term traded assets etc.) It is a parasite on the UK and global economy, and yet at the same time there is big money in London, enough to push property prices sky-high, and enough (mostly worthless) financial activity to require labour for hospitality, secretary work, whatever else. This is why there are more jobs in London comparatively, and why London has required immigrant labour to fill these jobs. People from the North are justifiably reluctant to move South, while immigrant labour can (just about) eat the ridiculous rent costs while making enough GBP to send back to their home countries at a good exchange rate (relative to their own country's currency.)

All this makes for a city which exploits immigrant labour because it knows that it's desperate, and reduces labour demands for the rest of the country, because London finance capital does not, can not possibly invest in large UK infrastructure/production projects because it is obsessed with short-term high-yield gains generated from worthless speculation.

Without a conversation like this, you can forget about any equalising of regional inequality, because the core issues remain unaddressed, and they will continue to remain unaddressed because all parties, including Labour, regard the City of London (finance), and the landlord lobby (rentier) as powerful interest groups that cannot be touched, lest the media literally destroy you in a poo-storm of anti-Leftist propaganda.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 6

xxKittyxx

Original post by imlikeahermit

I’m enjoying your erudite, nuanced and evidence-based perspective. Have you considered a career as a sociologist?

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 7

imlikeahermit

Original post by xxKittyxx

I’m enjoying your erudite, nuanced and evidence-based perspective. Have you considered a career as a sociologist?

Apologies if the actual truth bothers you.

Reply 8

Napp

Its more bringing other places up to standard as opposed to directly penalising London. As for house prices, nope not a hope in hell imo theyll go down. Other ones in northern cities and the midlands might well rise though.

Reply 9

Napp

Original post by xxKittyxx

Doubt the tories need to do much to keep them on side. Labour being the party of the middle class metropolitan elite these days which most certainly does not represent anything to do with the working classes of the north.

Reply 10

JOSH4598

Original post by imlikeahermit

I think you've hit the nail on the head here - mentality is the bigger issue. People who enjoy a lifetime of welfare dependency and leisure living off the state, while blaming a lack of opportunities, will be no more inclined to find a job after government investment than they have been for the past few decades. Ideally the welfare state ought to be stripped back and used as a short-term measure for those in need, forcing those who can work to get a job and actually contribute to society.

Reply 11

imlikeahermit

Original post by JOSH4598

Of course it should be a short term measure. We have literally the most vacancies since I can remember in this country at the moment. You could not get these people to work. But of course the left wing delusional fools on here would have you believe these people don’t exist. They don’t live up here, they don’t see it. Whole estates, gone, a wasteland of missed opportunity, petty crime and vagabonds. You could chuck money all you want at this place. Money won’t help these people. They’re a waste of space, ironically, the same wastes of spaces that most likely voted to keep immigrants out of our country because they’re stealing their jobs; jobs they won’t do.

Incoming: the usual posters telling me I’m bigoted and wrong but they don’t live in the area!