We currently hear quite a bit in the news about the idea of ‘levelling up’ – the need to invest in the rest of the country to bring it more into line with London and the South-East. On the face of it, I fully support the idea: almost everywhere I go here in the east of London, I see new buildings being constructed and areas being redeveloped. It’s clear that hundreds of millions of pounds are being invested in the metropolis. Yesterday, for example, I met my parents for lunch at a lovely greek restaurant up at the Olympic Park in Stratford. Almost every time I go up there, I’m sure I find a new building being built: East Bank takes my breath away, with it’s fabulous-looking new theatres and museums. To think that less than twenty years ago that area was a forgotten, polluted wasteland really is incredible. It is now thriving with it’s huge shopping centre, olympic stadium and beautiful park laced with rivers and canals.

It’s a similar story all over London. Of course, the Elisabeth Line opened last year, the biggest, most expensive transport project in Europe. On top of that, on last night’s local news there was an item about the redevelopment of Brent Cross, yet another scheme costing billions of quid to rebuild an area of London. “One of the biggest regeneration projects in Europe, the Brent Cross Cricklewood scheme will see the comprehensive regeneration of 151 hectares to create a sustainable new town centre for Barnet and North London including substantial residential and commercial uses.” To be honest when I heard that, it struck me that it made ‘levelling up’ a bit of a joke: do we see construction projects like this anywhere else in the country? Are there the forests of cranes we find towering over London, towering over Manchester, Liverpool or Newcastle? How can anyone take the idea of ‘levelling up’ seriously if London is still getting all the biggest, most expensive projects? From what my parents told me yesterday, the rest of the country, especially small towns, is dying through lack of investment. I find this imbalance very troubling: for all this talk of ‘levelling up’, London still seems to be getting all the good stuff while the rest of the country is left to rot.