Eric Ollerenshaw OBE MP, Member of Parliament for Lancaster and Fleetwood.
Last October, ConservativeHome covered the launch of Amber Rudd MP’s report on localism in the planning process. Amber’s report was the first in a series of papers being put together by some of the Forty Group of MPs.
Today I have published my contribution for the Forty Group’s on the North-South divide. This is a more in depth study of a subject on which I wrote a short article for ConservativeHome in June last year.
That there is a North-South divide is clear. And that divide grew under Labour.
Why does it matter? Firstly, that gap creates a sense of unfairness and disunity. But in more utilitarian terms it is a story of untapped economic potential. Plus, we must not rely on just one region or a very few sectors to drive our economy; the financial crash of 2008 has demonstrated the need for a rebalanced economy. Diversifying UK plc and doing more to spread growth more evenly around the country is important for future stability.
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