50 Britain The EconomistFebruary 24th 2018
T
HE one thing that everybody agreed on after Britain’s divisive
vote to leave the European Union was that the country was far
too centralised. Both Leavers and Remainers recognised that
Brexit was partly a vote against London’s dominance. Journalists,
most of whom had thought Remain would win in a walk, con-
fessed that they knew nothing about large chunks of their coun-
try. Theresa May promised to reach out to people who felt left be-
hind. Editorsordered their minions to visitthe provinces.
Today the problem of centralisation is worse than ever. West-
minster and Whitehall are even more inward-looking. Mrs May’s
policies for helping the left-behind have not buttered a single
parsnip. A few lonely journalists are continuing to make good on
their promise to get out more. But most newspapers are more in-
terested in the drama in Downing Street (and Brussels) than in the
fate of the regions. One of the many paradoxes of Brexit is that a
movement that was driven by frustration with London-centric
politics has made politics even more London-centric.
Andy Burnham, who was elected Labour mayor of Greater
Manchester in May 2017, when the government created six re-
gional mayoralties, spends his life grappling with this paradox.
He believes that Brexit was as much a revolt against Westminster
as against Brussels. He also argues that devolution is the best way
of making government more intelligent, as well as more account-
able, because it shortens the feedback loop between problems
and solutions. He is as well-equipped as anyone to negotiate be-
tween London and the regions, having held three national cabi-
net posts under Gordon Brown, including health secretary, and
having served as Jeremy Corbyn’sshadowhome secretary. He
also has deep roots in the north. He won his job with 63% of the
vote, and likes nothing more than talking about his education at a
Catholic comprehensive in Liverpool and his love of Everton
football club. Yet even this amphibious creature, part profession-
al northerner, part Westminster insider, is having trouble getting
himself heard above the Brexit hubbub.
As mayor, Mr Burnham is advancing on three fronts. He acts as
ambassador for his region and, indeed, for England’s regions in
general (this week he was in Brussels along with other English
mayors to talk about Brexit). He co-ordinates activities thathave
historically been fragmented between competing local councils.And he focuses resources and attention on a handful of defining
issues: education, particularly skills; regional development, par-
ticularly transport; and homelessness. He is especially vocal
about homelessness, donating15% of his £110,000 ($154,000) sala-
ry to homelessness charities.
One of the striking things about Mr Burnham’s city is the
number of billboards bearing the legend “End homelessness”.
Another striking thing is how many rough sleepers there are.
Rough sleeping has actually got worse since Mr Burnham be-
came mayor, rising by more than 20% over the past year, but it is
not for lack of trying. Mr Burnham points out that homelessness
is a national problem that is caused by a noxious combination of
insecure jobs and insecure private rental accommodation. It has
been rising across Britain. He also points out that homeless peo-
ple naturally gravitate to cities. Manchester’s problems can be
seen in Brighton and London.
Mr Burnham is doing admirable work in co-ordinating the
tangle of charities through his new Homelessness Action Net-
work. He also recognises that the problem is driven by behav-
ioural issues as well as housing shortages. Manchester is experi-
menting with halfway houses that not only provide rough
sleepers with accommodation, but also help them put their lives
back together by teaching them to stick to regular routines and
connecting them with training programmes.
Advocates of devolution have always argued that it would be
self-reinforcing—the more problems that mayors could solve, the
more pressure they would be able to put on the central govern-
ment to devolve more power. Mr Burnham has discovered that
local problem-solving applies in a surprising area: terrorism. His
mayorship has been defined more than anything by the bomb
that went off in the Manchester Arena lastMay, murdering 22
people, 17 days after he was elected. The bomber had grown up in
Manchester. Mr Burnham worries that Britain’s national security
agencies are overwhelmingly London-focused, when the roots
of domestic terrorism are often local. The best way to deal with
Manchester’s problems is to tap local knowledge and design lo-
cal solutions, he says.Magnetic south
This is not to say that the new mayor is wholly negative about
Conservative-run Westminster and Whitehall. He points out that
Philip Hammond, the chancellor, earmarked money for northern
transport in his most recent budget. He singles out Greg Clark, the
business secretary, and Sajid Javid, the housing secretary, for
praise. But he thinks that devolution is not delivering as much as
it should. He criticises Justine Greening, the former education
secretary, for acting as a “block on progress”, particularly when it
came to devolving control over adult education. He worries
above all that Mrs May is incapable of telling a compelling story
about the case for devolution.
That is an understatement. The problem isnot justthe story
but the reality. The political class is still heavily concentrated in
London. Jeremy Corbyn presides over the most London-centric
Labour Party ever. Seven of the shadow cabinet represent seats in
London, three of which border Mr Corbyn’s own seat of Islington
North. The Treasury hijacked devolution as a way of devolving
responsibility for makingcuts, while keeping the power to make
policy. Mr Burnham complains: “There is no point in bringing
power back from Brussels only to hand it over to London.” So far,
it looks as if that is exactly what is going to happen. 7The divided kingdom
Britain needs to work much harder on making a success of devolutionBagehot