WEBVTT - Why London Is Still Winning From Levelling Up 0:00:00.560 --> 0:00:06.800 Okay, Okay, Yeah, so I guess the question is how 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.159 do you feel leveling up? You go, I don't think 0:00:10.200 --> 0:00:13.960 it's going anywhere. I'm never saying in different sportswether. There 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:30.639 you got. I'm Francine Law in the London Studio and 0:00:30.680 --> 0:00:33.239 I'm David Merritt in the London Studio. And this is 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:35.879 in the City Bloomberg's podcast that connects you to the 0:00:35.920 --> 0:00:38.080 stories at the heart of the City of London. Okay, 0:00:38.080 --> 0:00:40.400 so this week we are taking a look at the 0:00:40.440 --> 0:00:43.280 government's leveling up agenda. And for those who don't know 0:00:43.320 --> 0:00:45.640 what leveling up is, which is probably people that don't 0:00:45.680 --> 0:00:47.640 live in the UK, this is basically a pledge to 0:00:47.760 --> 0:00:51.400 revive large parts of the UK, I not London, that 0:00:51.520 --> 0:00:53.960 have been left behind, all those bits of Britain that 0:00:54.040 --> 0:00:57.320 have been forgotten supposedly over the years, slipping further behind 0:00:57.320 --> 0:00:58.720 the capital. And of course it was one of the 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:05.839 big slogans, wasn't it the election in alongsize getting Brexits done. 0:01:05.920 --> 0:01:09.199 That Johnson got that huge majority. Yeah, you've got a huge, huge, 0:01:09.400 --> 0:01:12.360 resounding general election win. And then a little less than 0:01:12.360 --> 0:01:14.320 a year ago, at a speech and Coventry, the Prime 0:01:14.319 --> 0:01:17.480 Minister again focus on what he called the outrage of 0:01:17.600 --> 0:01:21.480 glaring regional inequalities. And it's the mission of this government 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.600 to unite and level up across the whole UK, not 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:27.679 just because that is morally right, but because if we fail, 0:01:27.920 --> 0:01:31.839 then we are simply squandering vast reserves of human capital, 0:01:32.120 --> 0:01:35.200 and we're failing to allow people to fulfill their potential 0:01:35.280 --> 0:01:37.920 and we are holding our country back. But what we're 0:01:37.920 --> 0:01:41.880 looking at now is the real data underneath the anecdotes 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.080 or the hype or the government's spin. And we've been 0:01:44.080 --> 0:01:47.440 spending months crunching that data across twelve different metrics for 0:01:47.520 --> 0:01:51.680 every every constituency in the UK, and the outcome of 0:01:51.680 --> 0:01:54.440 that data crunching is pretty uncomfortable reading, probably for the government. 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:57.560 So it's basically, David, most of the places that like 0:01:57.760 --> 0:02:00.840 behind London and the southeast of England and Johnson came 0:02:00.880 --> 0:02:03.760 to Parer that have seen little signs of better times. 0:02:03.880 --> 0:02:06.280 That's right. And you know it was supposed to narrow 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.920 the gap between the farthest plung bits of Britain and 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:13.560 London and actually the winner for the last few years 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:15.919 has been at the Capitol. So we're going to hear 0:02:15.960 --> 0:02:19.359 in a bit from the Chief Executive Officer of Legal 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:23.640 and General Nigel Wilson. Yeah, and he's Northerner. He really 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.720 cares about this leveling up agenda. I remembered talking to him, 0:02:26.760 --> 0:02:29.480 as you know, three or four years back about this 0:02:29.560 --> 0:02:32.080 and why this should have been a priority for the government. First, 0:02:32.120 --> 0:02:33.920 we're going to speak to our man who's been on 0:02:33.960 --> 0:02:37.079 the ground across Britain and who is responsible for that 0:02:37.639 --> 0:02:42.799 digging into the data. Bloomberg's reporter Joe May's welcome. Joe, Hello, 0:02:42.880 --> 0:02:46.160 how's it going? Very good? So you just got back 0:02:46.200 --> 0:02:49.040 from traveling around the country. Tell us where you've been 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:51.320 the Red Wall tour the Red Wall to I was 0:02:51.400 --> 0:02:55.040 up in sedge Field in Wakefield in Yorkshire. They went 0:02:55.080 --> 0:02:58.760 across to Rochdale near Manchester and down to Stoke which 0:02:58.800 --> 0:03:01.600 are kind of may regions that constitute the Red Wall, 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:03.720 and I was meeting the Grace and the Goods to 0:03:03.720 --> 0:03:07.040 find out what they made of Boris Johnson's progress, and yeah, 0:03:07.160 --> 0:03:09.640 they weren't too impress, which talies with the data that 0:03:09.680 --> 0:03:11.519 we've pulled together and and just going back to the 0:03:11.600 --> 0:03:13.920 data that you've been mining for the last few months, 0:03:13.960 --> 0:03:16.480 so it tells this pretty bleak picture. Not only a 0:03:16.560 --> 0:03:19.040 thing's bad and the and the Gulf exists between London 0:03:19.080 --> 0:03:21.720 and these parts of Britain, but it's got worse, right, Yeah, 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:23.600 because lovely up is not a static thing. I think 0:03:23.600 --> 0:03:25.640 the government would like it that London stayed where it 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:27.160 was and then the rest of the country could be 0:03:27.200 --> 0:03:29.400 kind of pushed along upwards towards London. But London is 0:03:29.440 --> 0:03:31.680 such a kind of phenomenon. Let's continued to grow and 0:03:31.760 --> 0:03:33.520 do so well in the last couple of years, it's 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:35.480 call that econom momentum, and the rest of the country 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.200 just simply has not done the same. So as you 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:41.000 get that widening disparity in the country, and the fruits 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.280 of the proceeds of economic growth in the UK just 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:46.280 continue to accrue to London the Southeast and they are 0:03:46.320 --> 0:03:48.480 not being shared around. And that's what the government is 0:03:48.480 --> 0:03:51.360 trying to solve. But as our data shows, is just 0:03:51.400 --> 0:03:54.800 not happening. So what are they most worried about? So 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:57.240 there was this kind of amazing moment where I was 0:03:57.280 --> 0:04:00.640 in sedge Field, so formally Tony Blair's seats the labor 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:03.560 Prime Minister, but now one by Johnson, and there's this 0:04:03.680 --> 0:04:07.600 disused rail yard in a town called Ferry Hill, which 0:04:07.640 --> 0:04:10.200 the government wants to turn into an active rail yard, 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:11.960 but it hasn't yet done so. And this is exactly 0:04:12.080 --> 0:04:14.240 kind of leveling up project you think they might achieve. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.400 You make a train station in a new area, bring jobs, 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:21.080 allow him just to access work in nearby towns. And 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.440 I went into the fish and chip shop in the 0:04:23.440 --> 0:04:26.400 town and I spoke to the owner, Colin Myers, and 0:04:26.440 --> 0:04:28.440 he told me that he came to this town because 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:31.320 of the promise of a railway station four decades ago, 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:35.280 and it still hasn't happened. And for decades, yes, he'd 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:37.440 been there since nine eight. And he said, I came 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:40.000 here and they said there will be a new railway station. 0:04:40.040 --> 0:04:43.600 It still hasn't happened. And he said to me, as 0:04:43.600 --> 0:04:46.000 if the government doesn't even know we are here, and 0:04:46.040 --> 0:04:49.000 it was holding out hope. He is, I mean speaking 0:04:49.040 --> 0:04:51.040 to the local MP, and the local MP is trying 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.080 to get this railway station to be built, but there's 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:56.400 no sign of happening, no sign happening yet. So he 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.760 was great and his his colleague Caroline was saying to 0:04:58.760 --> 0:05:02.479 me that this places on the bottom and they'll never 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:04.760 level up around here. You know. It was really quite 0:05:04.760 --> 0:05:10.159 striking how much it's effectively despair about whether the gun 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.520 will ever has it and that has this phrase stuck 0:05:13.560 --> 0:05:16.280 though that it's got some recognition. People say, we're never 0:05:16.279 --> 0:05:18.279 going to level up around here. They've heard Boris Johnson 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:20.280 say this, right. They would only say that once I'd 0:05:20.320 --> 0:05:22.240 introduced that, right, so they don't even know what it 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:24.159 brought this plan. That was the most common reply I had, 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.800 which is, well, what is this leveling up you're talking about? 0:05:26.960 --> 0:05:28.919 I certainly haven't heard about it. And I explained what 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:30.920 it means, you know, spreading wealth and prosperity. They're like, 0:05:31.040 --> 0:05:33.800 all right, okay, weird, that's not happening, and we don't 0:05:33.800 --> 0:05:38.599 see any sign of it happening. I don't think no improvement, however, 0:05:38.680 --> 0:05:44.160 there's nothing there yet, nothing, there's no guarantee of any improvements. 0:05:44.600 --> 0:05:48.120 Still a changing the time I've been here four or 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.839 four years. Yeah, it's got worse than that change. So, David, 0:05:51.880 --> 0:05:54.280 what's amazing in this is that actually people feel forgotten, 0:05:54.360 --> 0:05:57.000 they feel left behind, and yet they love the Prime Minister. 0:05:57.240 --> 0:06:01.320 I think Boris generally has not a brilliant job, absolutely brilliant. 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:05.280 I can't not the guy. The most striking finding often 0:06:05.360 --> 0:06:07.200 was that that, oh, yeah, Boris, he's doing a great job. 0:06:07.240 --> 0:06:10.040 You feel very sorry for him. Did well with the pandemic. Sorry, 0:06:10.440 --> 0:06:13.920 sorry for what well? They think they didn't mean, dealt 0:06:13.960 --> 0:06:16.240 with a rough hand, and you can see that to 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:19.039 be prime minister in a global pandemic and to have 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:20.920 to deal with all of that. So there's still a 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.160 lot of sympathy out there. And the kind of corollary 0:06:23.320 --> 0:06:25.520 is they don't feel much love for the labor leader 0:06:25.560 --> 0:06:28.279 kiss Stunt and they feel, like many were saying, we 0:06:28.279 --> 0:06:30.040 don't understand him, we don't know what his policies are, 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:33.520 he doesn't enthuse us. And therefore, even though the leadling 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:37.080 updata is bad, you can see why it's not a 0:06:37.080 --> 0:06:39.560 game over for Boris Shunson. But is this about spending 0:06:39.600 --> 0:06:42.880 more money in the regions to regenerate and attract talent? 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:45.640 Like what can the government actually do? It's about doing 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.920 lots of things all at once. So public policy experts 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:50.839 would say, yes, you can spend money in areas, but 0:06:50.880 --> 0:06:54.359 if you don't also improve the local council, reduce crime, 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:58.360 improve the town center, provide more jobs, and do all 0:06:58.400 --> 0:07:00.320 these things at once, then you'll never actually really see 0:07:00.360 --> 0:07:02.480 a meaningful kind of leveling up effect in an area. 0:07:02.520 --> 0:07:04.360 Money is one thing. And even on money, I was 0:07:04.400 --> 0:07:06.920 speaking to the head of the Stokes County Council, which 0:07:06.960 --> 0:07:09.360 has been one of the biggest recipients of leveling up funding, 0:07:09.800 --> 0:07:12.320 and names Abby Brown, and she was saying, I just 0:07:12.440 --> 0:07:15.480 don't have the people to spend the money that I've 0:07:15.520 --> 0:07:18.200 been given. I think there's always a challenge around needing 0:07:18.200 --> 0:07:20.840 more resource, so you know, having to have conversations with 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.640 the government to explain to them that, for example, we 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:26.240 only have one personal transport policy for authority were quarter 0:07:26.280 --> 0:07:30.360 of a million people were really well geographically placed and 0:07:30.400 --> 0:07:32.520 we know that we have some industry come see because 0:07:32.520 --> 0:07:34.840 of our geographic location, what we have one person who 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:39.920 is responsible for any transport policy. But your your analysis Joe's, 0:07:39.960 --> 0:07:44.640 showed that public spending per capital has actually fallen behind 0:07:44.760 --> 0:07:47.040 London in most places have written stuff, hasn't it. So 0:07:47.320 --> 0:07:49.080 even if the government's saying they're going to put more 0:07:49.120 --> 0:07:52.240 money in, it's not flowing in to the extent that 0:07:52.320 --> 0:07:55.640 it needs to to actually close that gap with the capital. Yes, 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:57.840 and it's a director lever that the government could be 0:07:57.880 --> 0:08:00.040 pulling but which our data shows that they're not. And 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:02.600 it seems like there's a mindset in Whiteshall in the 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.360 Treasury which leans towards spending where they think they get 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:09.120 the best return for money. And often historically if you 0:08:09.160 --> 0:08:11.400 do a spreadsheet calculation at will show London comes up 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:13.920 best because the return of investment is high, and they 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:15.720 need to get away from that mindset, I think, And 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:18.080 that was something that the council leaders were telling were 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.120 telling me. Joe, thank you so much for that reporting 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:23.000 and for coming on air to talk about Thank you, 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:26.120 and thank you for your amazing data analysis as well, 0:08:26.120 --> 0:08:28.680 and looking forward to the next the next revisiting of 0:08:28.720 --> 0:08:30.920 the data in a few months time. Thank you very much. 0:08:43.360 --> 0:08:46.280 So it's striking how Joe, I think, was talking about 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.720 the government promising to pay all this money to level 0:08:48.800 --> 0:08:51.040 up and it's not actually happening. But you know, the 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.319 other side of the coin is is corporate Britain right 0:08:53.360 --> 0:08:57.160 and having to have some private investment into these areas. Yeah, 0:08:57.200 --> 0:08:59.440 and it's maybe up to some of the private companies 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:01.840 to actually sure that they're all over the country and 0:09:01.880 --> 0:09:04.160 trying to level up. So we spoke to a very 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:06.679 interesting chief executive he's legal in general. I mean I 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:08.079 was going to say, what do they do, but what 0:09:08.200 --> 0:09:10.719 don't they do? Dave Right. They do pensions, they do 0:09:10.800 --> 0:09:14.040 investment schimes, they do insurance obviously, but they also see 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:16.280 themselves as one of the big sort of agents or 0:09:16.400 --> 0:09:20.120 engines of leveling up across the country with investments in 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.199 a ton of regenerations schemes across Britain. Yeah, I think 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:27.040 they've invested over thirty billion pounds and leveling up regional 0:09:27.120 --> 0:09:31.720 UK economies with a further like millions pledged. And Nigel Wilson, 0:09:31.760 --> 0:09:34.960 the CEO, is a Northerner and a proud Northerner himself 0:09:35.400 --> 0:09:38.480 and is very passionate about this subject and we're delighted 0:09:38.600 --> 0:09:41.720 for him to join us. But really, Nigel, you're much 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:43.320 more than that. You've been really one of the most 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.280 vocal chief executives when it comes to leveling up and 0:09:46.320 --> 0:09:49.640 making sure that everybody gets a fair chance in the UK. Yes, 0:09:49.720 --> 0:09:51.280 and I'd just like to say thank you to you 0:09:51.320 --> 0:09:54.160 guys for doing outstanding pieces of research, because you need 0:09:54.200 --> 0:09:57.280 to hold the government to account and actually measure what 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.800 the outcomes. So we're very appreciative that. I think the 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:02.920 cool thing with this, with this tracker is that we're 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:04.360 going to come back to every three months, you know, 0:10:04.360 --> 0:10:07.599 And it's about proper accountability, isn't it. They're going to 0:10:07.679 --> 0:10:10.160 try and do one themselves, but it needs to be 0:10:10.200 --> 0:10:13.920 intellectually honors. And you know the problem is the government's 0:10:13.960 --> 0:10:17.120 managing by sound bite at the moment and not by 0:10:17.360 --> 0:10:20.520 policy outcomes and outcomes. And we're all about outcomes. We're 0:10:20.559 --> 0:10:23.960 about investing, you know, real money and in the real economy, 0:10:24.240 --> 0:10:28.559 delivering real jobs. And I guess the problem that it's 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:30.920 it's a very easy excuse when you have inflation through 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.040 the roof. I don't think it's an excuse at all. 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:37.120 But our policymakers using it as an excuse, well, of 0:10:37.160 --> 0:10:39.000 course they are right, yeah, I mean yeah, but it's 0:10:39.040 --> 0:10:40.800 not an excuse. I mean, it has to be a 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:44.400 legitimate excuse if we can continue to earn it. And 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.920 as I don't think it's going to change our strategy 0:10:47.320 --> 0:10:49.959 because we're busy leveling up the best we can right 0:10:50.000 --> 0:10:53.520 across the country. But we need partners and people who 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:55.960 want to work with us to help accelerate. And it's 0:10:56.000 --> 0:11:00.880 almost every area we're failing. Housing is failing transportation fair 0:11:00.960 --> 0:11:04.920 and health failing, education is failing, productivity is failing. And 0:11:04.960 --> 0:11:08.559 we've got structural under investment again in the UK, which 0:11:08.640 --> 0:11:10.600 is the problem we've had for the last thirty or 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:13.840 forty years. And you know, very different from America, which 0:11:13.920 --> 0:11:18.960 is a much more dynamic get Gore place. So your 0:11:19.360 --> 0:11:21.800 your experience then as a as a business leader looking 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.840 at all corners of the country that talies with the 0:11:24.840 --> 0:11:28.439 Bloomberg data findings that things are just actually getting worse. Yes, 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:32.040 but but that's an aggregate number. There are pockets of 0:11:32.040 --> 0:11:35.000 real excitement across the UK and we're really excited about 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:37.120 you know, working with a number of different partners in 0:11:37.120 --> 0:11:40.080 a number of different cities. But the theme that we 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.880 had was the UK economy we would never be successful 0:11:42.960 --> 0:11:46.680 or grow if we didn't invest outside of London. London 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:48.960 can be and it's probably the best city in the 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.120 world to live in, but so why have we not? 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.640 I mean in places like Manchester leads so many other 0:11:54.679 --> 0:11:58.480 places that have so much potential, why have we under invested? Look, 0:11:58.520 --> 0:12:00.920 I think Manchester has do being a pretty good job 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:02.920 and leads as doing. We've picked on two of the 0:12:02.960 --> 0:12:05.600 two of the best one but they are the best, 0:12:05.679 --> 0:12:09.400 you know, and you know that isn't even a good 0:12:09.400 --> 0:12:11.800 benchmark in monsters. I think there can be much much better. 0:12:11.880 --> 0:12:14.440 We have a partnership with Manchester University. This is this 0:12:14.480 --> 0:12:17.360 is a great example of of something is that when 0:12:17.760 --> 0:12:20.120 you Mist closed down in two thousand and four, there 0:12:20.240 --> 0:12:23.880 was there was a site available to regenerate. You know, 0:12:23.960 --> 0:12:26.520 we won the competition for that site generation in two 0:12:26.559 --> 0:12:30.240 thousand and twenty one and mere seventeen years later. And 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.959 the piece of change is just too slow and there 0:12:32.960 --> 0:12:36.800 are too many barriers to getting things done in the UK. 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:38.959 Even London is a great example. You know. One of 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.400 the reasons housing is so expensive in London is that 0:12:41.520 --> 0:12:45.080 just the shortage of supply. Typically it takes seven years 0:12:45.200 --> 0:12:48.040 between buying a site and putting a sped in the 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:52.280 ground on a site in London at shocking. You said, 0:12:52.280 --> 0:12:54.720 London is one of the best cities to live in 0:12:54.720 --> 0:12:56.360 in the world, and our data shows that yes, the 0:12:56.400 --> 0:12:59.000 gap has widened despite the government saying they're going to 0:12:59.040 --> 0:13:02.720 try and redistribute wealth across the country and in fact 0:13:02.760 --> 0:13:06.520 the only areas where the gap had narrowed is because 0:13:06.559 --> 0:13:09.400 London had itself got worse. So it's not any leveling up, 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:12.920 it's actually leveling down on things like life expectancy, which 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.120 you can attribute to COVID nineteen. Do you think it's 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.440 just inevitable that London is going to continue to outperform 0:13:18.440 --> 0:13:19.920 the rest of the country. It's just because of all 0:13:19.920 --> 0:13:23.320 those advantages it's got. No, that is the honest answer 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:24.960 to that. You know, we have a four billion pound 0:13:25.040 --> 0:13:28.599 investment program with Oxford because Oxford dre invested in a 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:32.240 wonderful university. But it needs to judge itself against sem 0:13:32.240 --> 0:13:34.600 I t in Harvard in terms of what we're doing. 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:37.360 But Nigel, what about the North? I mean there must 0:13:37.400 --> 0:13:39.400 be places in the UK where people just will get 0:13:39.440 --> 0:13:42.080 the numbers and think, well, my, you know, I'm not 0:13:42.200 --> 0:13:46.160 making a decent living. Everything is hard. The government is 0:13:46.200 --> 0:13:48.760 not helping me and what I was promised when I 0:13:48.840 --> 0:13:52.439 voted for Brexit is not powering through. I don't know 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:54.719 whether it's just a vote for breckfit around that. I 0:13:54.760 --> 0:13:57.040 think it's it's a it's a long term trend which 0:13:57.080 --> 0:14:00.319 we haven't stopped yet, and it's just insufficient in estiment 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:04.880 gone into the economy and outside of London to stop 0:14:04.880 --> 0:14:07.920 that trend and you know, our job and our collective 0:14:08.000 --> 0:14:10.760 job is to work in partnership with central government, local 0:14:10.800 --> 0:14:14.600 government and need the universities across the UK and really 0:14:14.760 --> 0:14:17.680 step up and everybody has to step up otherwise in 0:14:17.720 --> 0:14:21.560 three months time you'll be telling me the same story everybody. 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:25.280 You mean, corporate Britain as well as the government. I mean, 0:14:25.280 --> 0:14:29.200 whose fault is it that this investment isn't happening. It's 0:14:29.200 --> 0:14:33.120 a collective responsibility and and you know central government hasn't 0:14:33.160 --> 0:14:35.760 stepped up. It's it's pretty obvious that that's how it happened. 0:14:36.000 --> 0:14:38.120 But at a local level everybody has to step up 0:14:38.120 --> 0:14:40.400 as well and not just wait for central government to 0:14:40.480 --> 0:14:43.520 turn up. And that's never happened to thirty or forty years. 0:14:43.560 --> 0:14:46.480 It's not suddenly going to change overnight. But the private 0:14:46.480 --> 0:14:49.400 sector has to to step up as well, right across 0:14:49.440 --> 0:14:54.239 the right, across the country and you know Leads, Manchester, Birmingham, 0:14:54.480 --> 0:14:58.400 they're also great cities. But the delta between those cities 0:14:58.440 --> 0:15:01.440 in London, it's is almost the largest in the world. 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:03.880 Doesn't happen in America? America has you know, It's top 0:15:03.920 --> 0:15:06.360 cities are all very similar in terms of their their 0:15:06.400 --> 0:15:09.120 g d P and the standard of living. It's hugely 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:12.520 different between London and everywhere else, and Germany is the same. 0:15:12.600 --> 0:15:14.760 Germany has you know that their top cities and in 0:15:14.800 --> 0:15:19.000 fact even in East Germany now Leipzig, Dresden, in Berlin's 0:15:19.040 --> 0:15:23.440 per capita income exceeds every city in England apart from London, 0:15:23.920 --> 0:15:27.880 and only Edinburgh is higher right across the UK, and 0:15:28.320 --> 0:15:31.480 that's real leveling up that we've seen in Germany. But 0:15:31.520 --> 0:15:34.440 it's a huge commitment by the government and the private 0:15:34.480 --> 0:15:38.080 sector to bring the East Germany up to being much 0:15:38.160 --> 0:15:41.400 closer to West Germany. So so what's happened in the 0:15:41.520 --> 0:15:45.440 UK is it historical reasons because of some manufacturing that 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:47.480 happened in those places, and I guess the cost of 0:15:47.520 --> 0:15:50.360 living is just going to make these inequalities between the 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.800 South and the North worst. Well, there's if you look 0:15:53.840 --> 0:15:56.600 at another headline number, there's one point eight million job 0:15:56.640 --> 0:15:59.600 vacancies in Britain. One point eight million. This is the 0:15:59.680 --> 0:16:02.560 high it's ever ever been and it's a very unusual 0:16:02.920 --> 0:16:05.400 occurrence that theres so many job vacancies and these jobs 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.720 are not being taken. This is an under investment in 0:16:08.880 --> 0:16:12.400 education and training over thirty or forty years. America has 0:16:12.440 --> 0:16:14.160 a bit of that as well. I've joined a call 0:16:14.240 --> 0:16:16.680 with a number of American cres who are complaining about 0:16:16.720 --> 0:16:18.680 the same thing. They have lots of vacancies, they can't 0:16:18.920 --> 0:16:22.720 they can't fill them right now. And the economy is 0:16:23.080 --> 0:16:27.400 changing faster in terms of the demand for new solutions, 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:30.600 and technology is leading that charge, and at the moment, 0:16:30.680 --> 0:16:33.160 the labor markets are lagging behind that that we haven't 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:36.360 trained up enough people to work in those new, new, 0:16:36.440 --> 0:16:39.600 new areas, and therefore the premium on workers in those 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:42.240 new areas is extraordinary high. All that's just going to 0:16:42.320 --> 0:16:45.680 feed back into the inflation ten percent forecast the end 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.520 of this year. That's a that's a huge barrier to 0:16:48.680 --> 0:16:50.920 any any progress in leveling up, isn't it. I mean, 0:16:50.920 --> 0:16:54.360 the economy is looking very very shaky for the rest 0:16:54.360 --> 0:16:56.400 of this year, is and we're not. In fact, we're 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:59.600 stepping up our leveling up investment because actually there's there's 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:04.800 more opportunities now you are, there are others and why not, 0:17:05.720 --> 0:17:07.239 I don't know why not. It's one of those things 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:09.520 where people have asked me that question, and you know, 0:17:09.560 --> 0:17:11.440 we've made a bit of great success of it. You know, 0:17:11.480 --> 0:17:14.240 our return and equities, which is very high for a 0:17:14.280 --> 0:17:18.199 financial services company. We've scaled up extraordinarily in lots of 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:21.160 all the areas that I was talking about that are 0:17:21.160 --> 0:17:24.000 that are problems. But when we come with a solution 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:29.119 to government, they're actually very supportive of that. But actually 0:17:29.280 --> 0:17:31.040 you're paying for it. We're paying for it that we're 0:17:31.040 --> 0:17:33.479 happy to pay for it, so we don't ask the government. 0:17:33.480 --> 0:17:36.120 We look for projects where we will finance the whole thing, 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.800 but part of the core infrastructure needs to be provided 0:17:39.880 --> 0:17:43.400 by by the government. But are you pulling investment out 0:17:43.400 --> 0:17:45.680 of London to fund that or is it an add 0:17:45.960 --> 0:17:48.800 an additive thing. It's an additive things as well. Can 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:53.639 I ask about financial services in the city specifically, Um, 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.760 it's a huge part of the economy that the leveling 0:17:55.840 --> 0:17:58.639 up agenda is ignoring the strength of the city in 0:17:58.680 --> 0:18:02.000 a sense and not thinking about how do we speed 0:18:02.040 --> 0:18:04.560 things up as the city transitions postpract I mean, what's 0:18:04.600 --> 0:18:07.639 your what's your sense of the future here right in 0:18:07.680 --> 0:18:09.840 the square mile? Not the future is bright? I think 0:18:10.480 --> 0:18:13.280 here in the in the square mile, and it's great 0:18:13.280 --> 0:18:17.440 to see everybody back to work and there's great excitement 0:18:18.640 --> 0:18:21.360 across the city. There's so much innovation going on, there's 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:24.919 so much investment required, and there's great clusters of that 0:18:25.040 --> 0:18:27.320 investment and that's why, you know, I'm very excited about 0:18:27.320 --> 0:18:30.320 the creativity and creative industries in and around London and 0:18:30.320 --> 0:18:33.080 those who will be financed by you know, financial firms 0:18:33.119 --> 0:18:36.800 like like our like ourselves, and so there's masses of 0:18:36.920 --> 0:18:39.919 new market opportunities or opening up a huge amount of 0:18:39.960 --> 0:18:44.840 investment required and that Golden triangle between Oxford, Cambridge and 0:18:45.440 --> 0:18:48.880 London is going to continue to attract massive amount of capital. 0:18:49.119 --> 0:18:51.960 And I'm really impressed by a number of the vice 0:18:52.040 --> 0:18:55.600 chancellors across the UK right now who will reaching out 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:58.080 and saying, actually, we've got to be part of this. 0:18:58.200 --> 0:19:01.639 We can't just be an academic institution. We have to 0:19:01.640 --> 0:19:04.520 step up and be more like the best in class 0:19:04.520 --> 0:19:05.840 in the world, which are the m I t S, 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:08.600 the Harvards, and understand that how long do you think 0:19:08.760 --> 0:19:11.400 if the right investment got to the right places, does 0:19:11.440 --> 0:19:14.359 this leveling up take. It's a ten to twenty year project. 0:19:14.440 --> 0:19:15.879 I mean, I think that's the thing you have to 0:19:15.920 --> 0:19:18.240 do is recognized that it's a ten to twenty which 0:19:18.280 --> 0:19:20.879 is what we've done is you know, whether it's in 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:24.320 Newcastle or Sunderland, every every city you go to. If 0:19:24.359 --> 0:19:26.560 you went and sold the senior people, they would say, well, actually, 0:19:26.680 --> 0:19:29.199 here's here's a whole bunch of projects. Three years have 0:19:29.240 --> 0:19:32.280 passed and we've gone backwards. So you know it's three 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.400 of the three of the ten have gone already. Are 0:19:34.400 --> 0:19:37.440 we actually going to make that deadline? No, your data 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:38.720 is not going to say we're going to make the 0:19:38.720 --> 0:19:42.280 deadline until we have real concrete action in support of 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:46.280 leveling up from the government, which is which, but also 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:49.080 the local governments as well, having to step up and 0:19:49.080 --> 0:19:53.919 getting rid of political views to a certain extent and 0:19:53.960 --> 0:19:57.119 focus on place, because place, some people should come first 0:19:57.160 --> 0:19:59.399 and politics should be second. If you had a magic 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.480 wand to level up easier and better than what would 0:20:02.520 --> 0:20:05.600 you do. I've changed the planning regulations pretty much run 0:20:05.760 --> 0:20:09.119 right across the UK very quickly. I would empower local 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:12.920 people to make decisions a lot more quicker. I'd reallocate 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:16.040 the budget to spend more on interest city transport rather 0:20:16.080 --> 0:20:20.320 than intercity transport, because you know, everybody's saving ten ten 0:20:20.359 --> 0:20:23.240 minutes a day traveling to and from work, getting rid 0:20:23.280 --> 0:20:25.720