Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, in his book “A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich” wrote “how can a man who is warm understand a man who is cold?” Coming from Bolton in Greater Manchester (formerly Lancashire), the 34th most deprived local authority in the UK, I know exactly what Solzhenitsyn means, “how can a man who is rich understand a man who is poor?”. The austerity measures imposed on the UK by the Osborne, Cameron partnership, and continued by May and Hammond, literally destroyed places like Bolton. Local authorities were stripped of Government subsidies and Bolton lost £60 million a year. In addition, benefits were cut by 75% and the Universal Credit Scheme has led to further cuts and sanctions on the poor. We now know, due to Rishi Sunak’s little speech in Tunbridge Wells (affluent and Coservative voting), that money has been diverted from “deprived urban areas” to more “deserving” areas such as Tunbridge Wells. So, not only has Bolton been impoverished by useless austerity measures (the National Debt has not decreased by ONE penny but has risen to £2.4 trillion), policies are still in place that hobble local economies in deprived areas. The simple fact is that, in places like Bolton, employment opportunities are not as great as in more affluent areas and so there are more benefits claimants. It’s not rocket science.
Once benefits payments are drastically reduced (i.e. by 75%), the local economy is hit hard. Small businesses shut down and Town Centres become wastelands. Cutting £60 million out of local Government spending reduces job opportunities and, again, this impacts on the local economy. It is death by a thousand cuts inflicted by a Government that’s London centric and cares little for other areas of the country. When the Government then runs on a policy of “levelling up”, which actually entails stripping even more cash from deprived areas, it’s obviously time to change the Government.
To “level up”, money that was stripped from the local economies of deprived urban areas needs to be restored. That means, firstly, increasing benefits by a factor of four. People on benefits spend money in the local economy, they don’t use the cash to buy stocks and shares. Spending benefits in the local economy means opportunities for small businesses to service need. Local Government money must be restored and extra funding needs to be given to deprived areas, so, it is obvious that funding formulas, “undone” by Sunak, need to be sorted and fast. Injecting cash into local economies means enhanced employment opportunities and growth, whereas repeating the phrase “levelling up” ad nauseam does absolutely nothing, and certainly gets you thrown out at the next election. After years of austerity which saved not one penny, and the crazy, economically destructive lockdowns, there is zero appetite for more of the same. The next Prime Minister would do well to remember this.