Sir Howard Bernstein has achieved a great deal in his time as chief executive of Manchester, so it is sad to see him demeaning his standing by factually incorrect and politically tendentious comments on funding and devolution for his city during the lifetime of the last Labour government (Living for the city, G2, 19 April). Contrary to his claim that “Labour ministers didn’t want to give us much money”, Manchester benefited from substantial and sustained increases in local government funding during the period of Labour government, a pattern that came to an abrupt end when Sir Howard’s “top guy” George Osborne became chancellor in 2010.
Sir Howard claims that “when we had a Labour government, Manchester never had devolution”. He seems to have forgotten the 2002 white paper Your Region, Your Choice, proposing elected regional assemblies. The fact that this did not occur is in part attributable to the powerful voices in Manchester at that time opposed to a devolution model that would have benefited the wider north-west region, not just the city. It was not the lack of an offer of devolution from government.
Nick Raynsford
Minister for local government 2001-05
• Sir Howard Bernstein exemplifies what is sometimes called “urban boosterism” or the application of PR to urban governance. We are told that, with council leader Sir Richard Leese, Bernstein “enacted” the “reinvention” of Manchester, producing everything from the Hacienda club to the Commonwealth Games and the so-called “northern powerhouse”. The word “enacted” beautifully evokes the notion of boosterism as a performance by gifted promoters, without which urban regeneration will not happen. But in fact Manchester is not so special as its boosters claim – numerous cities have hosted the neoliberal service-led economy and the so-called creative industries which cluster close to city centre markets, suggesting boosterism follows rather than creates urban change. Bernstein is also a big fan of George Osborne and his “northern powerhouse”, despite the Osborne Treasury’s massive cuts to local government services. He’s a “top guy” says Bernstein. Many citizens in Manchester and across the country, including the “northern poorhouses” – a more apt descriptor of many places excluded from the glitz of city centres like Manchester – are unlikely to agree.
Mike Geddes
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
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