Don’t leave the South East behind as Britain levels up
The Big Smoke dominates — our economy, our culture and our, well, pretty much everything in the UK.
In Westminster, just a small corner of the behemoth that is London, life-changing decisions — for better and worse — are being made that will dramatically impact public services, businesses, and families for years to come.
That is why I was so pleased when the chancellor Rishi Sunak announced in his Budget earlier this month something which I could get fully behind: a levelling up agenda for the whole of the UK. This would be achieved by “raising productivity and growth”, thus creating opportunities for everyone.
“For too long the UK has under-invested in infrastructure, leaving many people stuck with delays and poor service,” the chancellor declared, and I was excited.
As the newly appointed Thames Estuary envoy, where I champion the combined region of East London, North Kent, South Essex and the Thames itself, I know how much potential my patch has. As a historic and essential international trading route, levelling up this area could benefit the whole of the UK.
My worry, though, is that this part of the South East, so often associated with the glittering golden goose that is the London of our imaginations, may be overlooked for the “Midlands Engine” and the “Northern Powerhouse” after this current crisis has ended.
I am acutely aware that these more northerly regions helped the Prime Minister stay in Number 10 and gave his party a sizeable majority in the House of Commons in December’s election. However, if these voters are to be “rewarded”, as media reports have claimed, I hope that the government sticks to its promise of levelling up the UK as a whole, especially the Thames Estuary.
The Thames Estuary Growth Board, the body of partners which I chair, know that our region can’t afford a “business as usual”. We know that parts of East London, for instance, have child poverty rates well above the average for the rest of the UK. We know that the transport infrastructure and networks in parts of our region simply aren’t up to scratch.
We want to change that — but we need to work with our communities, our businesses, our local authorities, and we need the support of the government. If, in a combined and concerted effort, we get this right, the prize could be more than £190bn Gross Value Added and 1.3m new jobs created by 2050.
In human terms, those hard-high-level economic figures mean that families across the Thames Estuary will become more healthy, more prosperous, and more able to make a positive contribution to UK plc.
We have an emerging and ambitious plan. “The Green Blue” will help us to fully exploit the opportunities to harness the Thames to deliver green growth; we will create new business led skills initiatives; and we will significantly improve infrastructure across the Estuary. The Thames’s “multifunctionality will continue to evolve, from freight to fishing and from beach to boardroom”, as the 2050 Growth Commission noted.
Potential without action, however, remains in the realm of theoretical. With the government’s help, when this crisis is over we can work together to level up the Thames Estuary, and boost the region with a global river that helped turn the UK into the economic powerhouse that it is today.
Main image credit: Getty