Greg Clark

Why old political rivals are now working together

From our UK edition

Previous decades of regional policy have failed to close the North-South gap in economic productivity and prosperity. We’ve decided to do something about that, and are moving beyond old political rivalries. So a Labour Mayor of Liverpool and a Conservative Secretary of State might not be likely allies - but we both believe in the same thing: a Northern Powerhouse. The real split now isn’t between left and right but between centralisers and localists, between those who believe you can run a modern post-industrial economy from Whitehall and those who recognise there is an urgent need to devolve power. We believe that the centralisers have had their day. The North-South gap is a testament to their failure and the need for a new way.

The only way is up

From our UK edition

Whatever happened to social mobility? One of the most disturbing themes to emerge from the grammar schools debate and the current rash of Blair retrospectives is the discovery that even under a supposedly progressive Prime Minister, our society is holding too many people back rather than propelling them forward. And the reasons behind this reveal many deep-seated differences between the thinking of Cameron’s Conservatives and that of Brown’s Labour party. Social mobility is falling. Someone born into the poorest quarter of society 50 years ago had a greater chance of working their way up to a higher economic group than a young person today. And it’s getting worse. We have expanded the number of people in higher education.