Putting the north at the heart of Labour's industrial strategy

Experts discussed how the north fits into Labour's industrial strategy
-Credit: (Image: Reach Publishing Services Limited)


The conundrum of how to make the most of the north's great economic potential and help close the inequality and investment gap between north and south has flummoxed policy makers for decades. From the 'northern powerhouse' plan under the Coalition Government, to Boris Johnson's 'levelling up' strategy, successive governments have tried to square the circle with varying degrees of success.

At today's Labour Party Conference, policy experts and politicians discussed ways the new Labour government can put the north at the heart of its industrial strategy. Mayor of South Yorkshire Oliver Coppart outlined some of the challenges facing English regions. He said his aim was to restore the pride, purpose and prosperity of South Yorkshire, which he said had a "thriving local economy" in the 1960s, underpinned by a strong and resilient community and "people who knew what they were about".

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As a result of industrial decline, he said, South Yorkshire - like parts of Merseyside - has suffered, leading to "fractured communities". He added: "Our economy is too small, and we have lost our purpose in the world." He is pushing for the region to harness its engineering expertise through a manufacturing innovation district, arguing that research, development and innovation is the key to future success.

Newly elected London MP Georgia Gould, who was recently appointed as a minister at the Cabinet Office, weighed in by saying the UK needs a "clear industrial strategy" and must identify potential growth areas in different cities and regions. She added: "Not everywhere can be a centre for everything, but we need to be really clear about where the growth areas are."

Talking about the challenges of poor infrastructure and transport links, she added: "An hour away from a city is not that long, but it is if there's only a bus that comes at 11 and people cannot commute to work. We need to ask, is it the transport links, is it the clean energy facilities in place? And start to build really concrete plans. I think there's huge waste when central and local government don't work together and don't understand what's really going on in places. Working in partnership can be really transformative."

US urban policy expert Bruce Katz provided an outside perspective on the issue. He said that in the US, "we're seeing a level of spending we haven't seen in decades", and argued there are lessons for the UK in looking to the US example. "The US is remilitarising," he said, "re-shoring production and decarbonising simultaneously. We're seeing the most activist government since the New Deal."

He added: "It's coming in procurement, it's coming from loans, it's coming from grants, it's coming from tax incentives. And the model from the national government is invest first, plan later. An enormous torrent of money is flowing out, and the delivery is happening at the local, metropolitan state level."