2 weeks Ago
We have to be demanding here in the North East - we have the right to be insistent that we deserve more of a focus. We have been given power through the combined authorities and we used it well, so why not give us much more - money to support key projects, local budgets for local needs, Government support and understanding that went beyond the mayoral photo-opps. This region has developed a thick skin over the years, but also a resurgent sense of pride that it has turned things around after the collapse of steel.
So each time there is a glaring opportunity to place that progress on record and reward it - we call for it because we deserve it. So there was The Northern Echo’s list of ten projects that would be a huge step forward for us. Not definitive at all, but carefully curated to be sensible and achievable.
But it was still a step too far for the Chancellor. (Image: Jordan Pettitt) I know many regions across the UK will feel the same way this morning about what they got and what was missing. Every one of them needs to have that same pride in their goals and frustration that everything they have on their own list can’t be done.
Perhaps the answer is a complete handover of power to the regions - whatever we need we look after ourselves - right down to Keir Starmer’s ‘reimagining’ of the NHS into what could be one split into regionally run sections. That would need a substantial primer from the Government every year, but then repairs and staffing could be directed by local knowledge and a sense of ownership that is missing at the moment might return. As ever with Budgets, there will be those furious about the contents and those celebrating the same things because we look at things through different lenses.
Recommended reading: Get more from The Northern Echo with a Premium Plus digital subscription from as little as only £1.50 a week Rachel Reeves knows that, and no matter what she said yesterday, she will get those emails from each side. She will have been well-briefed on that, so it will come as no surprise.
The mark of a great Chancellor is to want to look at them later this morning, perhaps over the Eggs Benedict brunch. To genuinely listen to the regions who are giving you back so much at the moment, you first have to seek out their views, understand them and then realise there is something to work with..
