Being an MP is one of the few roles where living at the opposite end of the country to where you work most of the week is part of the job description. Most people in Britain want the opposite: work that pays well and isn’t too far from their homes and families. That’s a pretty good test of a strong economy – knowing that whether you’re from Scunthorpe or Southend you’ve got access to the same kind of opportunities to find a good job, get training or start a business.
But that’s not the situation in Britain today. Four in five of all new jobs created since 2010 are in London. Only two cities in England (Bristol & London) have GDP per head above the national average. The growth we’ve got isn’t balanced and it isn’t creating opportunities across the country.
It hasn’t always been like this. Cities like Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds used to be the engines of our economy, leading the way in the industrial revolution. In Wigan and Scunthorpe, the areas we live and represent, there are hundreds of enterprising businesses with the potential to innovate and grow like this again. The same is true across the country, whether it’s the digital companies transforming our everyday lives, home-grown manufacturers or the researchers in our world class universities.
The first step to realising our potential is to take spending decisions away from Whitehall departments so they can be made in local areas. Different regions face different challenges when it comes to housing and transport, the support businesses want and the skills people need. Today, Andrew Adonis is recommending just that: £30bn of funding to go to local areas to grow their own economies using local expertise. Local businesses will know whether they need access to finance, better roads or more housing, and local authorities working together will be able to provide them.
The same goes for skills and training. One in five young people are unemployed in the UK, a huge source of shame for all of us. Right now many of them don’t have the skills they need to get good jobs; especially in science, engineering and technology. There are things that can and should be done nationally, but we must also be able to change things locally to make sure the skills young people get match the jobs in their area. Which is why a Labour government would give communities the power to create more, better apprenticeships and tailor them to local need.
Our economy is unbalanced but it’s not divided. All over the UK are people who want the same thing: good jobs that pay a decent wage for them and the people they care about. We know every part of the country has the potential to deliver that if we give them the chance.
Lisa Nandy is Labour MP for Wigan and Nic Dakin is Labour MP for Scunthorpe
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