University of West London summer lecture: Levelling up and why it will decide the next election
Intro
Head of UWL’s Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up (CEILUP), Professor Graeme Atherton, gave a stimulating lecture addressing poverty, inequality and how levelling up will decide the next general election. The talk was attended by a mix of students, academics, think tanks, residents, and members of Ealing council.
Main body
Graeme, who was raised on a Blackpool council estate, examined the history of levelling up, the present situation and what levelling up will mean for the next national election before coming to his conclusion.
Discussing the history of levelling up, Professor Atherton argued that while the levelling story began as a reaction to Brexit, UK regional inequality has a much deeper history going back to the early 1900s. Since then, by measuring GDP regional equality between London, the south and the north inequality continues to rise.
Examining the present, Graeme noted that when the Conservatives won the 2019 general election, Boris Johnson pledged to unite the country and address levelling up by improving living standards; introducing better public services; restoring a sense of pride in the community and empowering local leaders.
While acknowledging that the Coronavirus epidemic and the war in Ukraine have impacted government policy, Professor Atherton argued that a regional approach alone is a blunt instrument when tackling deprivation. Referring to the Gini Coefficient, trusted data that measures distinct groups of household incomes, he said:
We are one of the most unequal countries in the OECD and it is getting worse. Only £4 billion has been committed to levelling up funding regeneration projects over a three-year period. That is 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of total government spend.”
Looking forward he noted:
Whoever wins the next election, the key battleground in areas where there are marginal seats and where there is deprivation will be places where there are lower wages, and lower outputs.”
Professor Atherton concluded:
Levelling up is not just about marginal seats. What kind of society do we want to live in? Right now, one in three children is living in poverty and over 2.5 million people are using food banks.”
Deputy Vice-Chancellor for Education and Student Experience at UWL, Sara Raybould said:
UWL is committed to widening participation in all aspects. This is the fabric of our university, and we are pleased to have someone incredibly wise and astute like Graeme heading our Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up.”
Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up (CEILUP)
The Centre for Inequality and Levelling Up (CEILUP) focuses on research to develop practical solutions to inequality in employment, education and opportunity.
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