What a pity George Osborne didn’t decide to “revitalise the cities of the north” five years before the 2015 general election rather than a mere ten days (Power to the cities could reverse the Thatcher legacy, 27 April). That could have meant the section of HS2 northwards from Birmingham taking precedence over reducing travelling times from London to the Midlands by a matter of minutes. An upgrade of the Manchester to Leeds railway is welcome, though long overdue, but for Osborne to describe the prospect as “HS3”, with routes “built within the next parliament”, is fooling no one.
Little rejuvenation has been possible in the mostly Labour-dominated north when council grants from the government have been slashed and London and the south-east have always taken priority. Funny how this chancellor believes “in government as a force for good” when his economic plan involves the reduction of government spending to 1930s levels.
Bernie Evans
Liverpool
• Fine words from George Osborne on devolving power to the cities, but his actions fall far short of the claim that “we live in a country where we distribute resources from richer to poorer areas”. Not only have local government and the services it provides taken the biggest hit in the last five years of cuts but the cities in the north and Midlands, along with inner-London boroughs and coastal towns, have suffered disproportionately. Tory insistence on the imposition of mayors, widely rejected in recent referendums, owes more to the approach of Nick Boles – who once described it as the only route back to power for the Tories in Manchester – than to any objective comparison with the present system.
Jeremy Beecham
Labour, House of Lords
