The promise of levelling up is fading away with Boris Johnson

Editorial: In a way, it is a good thing – rebranding old-fashioned regional policy with dynamic slogans and soaring ambitions was always something of a cynical hoax

Incidentally, rejoining the EU would probably lift the fortunes of left-behind communities far more quickly and dramatically than levelling up (AFP via Getty)

Whatever potential “levelling up” enjoyed, beyond being a boosterish slogan, it has made relatively little difference to the many communities who assumed it to signal imminent transformation.

According to IPPR North, a left-leaning think tank, “public spending remained lower in the North than it did England-wide, during the course of the agenda”. Public spending in London is higher per person than in the North, as ever, but has also increased relative to the North. Some of that can be accounted for by London’s special reliance on commuting and the concomitant public transport subsidies, and those rose during the lockdowns; but it is a disappointing indicator nonetheless.

Sad to say, there were, and are, so many “left behind” towns and smaller cities in need of regeneration that to level all of them up to the sort of prosperity enjoyed across much of the South East would mean spending the kind of money that would be difficult to find even in better times.