After the launch of the government’s white paper, Keith Flett, Joy Webb, Harry Aldridge, Andy Stelman and David Rintoul respond
Aditya Chakrabortty (A tale of two towns – one in the north, one in the south – exposes the lie of ‘levelling up’, 2 February) is quite right to point to the dishonesty that is at the centre of the Tory “levelling up” slogan. First, because the money available is nowhere near what is needed for the task – much is bluster and spin. Second, because it deliberately creates a false division between working-class communities in the north of England and in London, when the government dumps on both equally.
In the 1960s, Edmonton, which Chakrabortty’s article refers to, was part of the significant Lea Valley industrial area, as was Tottenham, where I live. The Tottenham sound of the Dave Clark Five rivalled that of another industrial working-class area, the Merseyside of the Beatles. In the 1980s, both areas were laid waste by the Thatcher government as part of a deliberate strategy.
