Simon Jenkins’ recent article (If the regions are to rise, London must take a hit, 28 February) reveals some uncomfortable truths about inequality in the UK and some of the consequences of the government’s laudable “levelling up” agenda.
For obvious reasons, the public debate has centred on the deprived communities of northern England. Similar levels of deprivation are also prevalent in urban pockets outside of northern England. They divide our towns and cities and should not be overlooked.
As Jenkins suggests, inequality is between places not just between north and south and between towns. But it is also between neighbourhoods in our towns and cities. It exists on many scales. The government’s levelling-up challenge is more profound and difficult than it appears at first glance; inequality is hidden in the interstices of urban Britain.
I have lived in Southampton for 25 years and have observed, at first-hand, the ravages of de-industrialisation and austerity upon its residents. Today Southampton is a microcosm of divided Britain. Information from Southampton Data Observatory clearly shows that outside the affluent neighbourhoods north of the city centre, deprivation increases and is most extreme in the neighbourhoods at the eastern and western flanks of the city, where it attains levels found in deprived towns of the north of England.
The River Itchen marks one of the major divides. Just to the west lies the city centre with its clusters of major employers, two universities, major NHS facilities, entertainment, social, retail, arts and cultural venues. To the east there is a scarcity of similar facilities. This, in turn, is reflected in the politics of my city.
Hopefully the new chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak, who is a son of Southampton, will not forget the people of his birthplace. Deprivation is to be found across Britain, not just northern England, hidden by its “fractal” nature, and will need carefully targeted funding wherever it exists.
Adam Wheeler
Southampton
• “I believe this will never happen until those with power are physically ejected from the capital. Civil servants and politicians (and journalists) must go north,” writes Simon Jenkins. Did not the irony occur to him that he was writing for a newspaper that, in his lifetime and mine, enjoyed a national and international reputation, and was called the Manchester Guardian?
Maybe the Guardian might practise what he preaches and return to its roots in a city that still has a great university, a great orchestra, two great football teams, and could use a great newspaper again.
Geoffrey Wheatcroft
Combe Down, Bath
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