Devolution

Belfast’s past continues to shape its present and future

The Harland and Wolff shipyard has become synonymous with the city of Belfast, its two huge banana-yellow cranes an indispensable part of the…

“This election has clarified a lot of things. One of them is that centralist politics is broken”

There are some commonly made diagnoses for the place the UK finds itself in today: stagnation, regional inequality, decaying trust,…

As we celebrate 100 years of social housing, councils deserve more money and freedom

London’s Labour deputy mayor for housing writes. Seven years ago, I met families moving into some of the first new…

Boris Johnson has promised to invest in Britain’s towns. He should give them greater powers, too

The authors are the founders of the Centre for Towns think tank. The PM’s announcement on Saturday of £3.6bn funding…

Boris Johnson used to be a mayor. So what does his premiership mean for Britain’s cities?

David Cameron and George Osborne’s departure from Downing Street involved no change of party in government or its legislative arithmetic, but…

What can the next Prime Minister do to help Britain’s cities?

After two years of speculation about the future, the Conservative race to be the next Prime Minister is underway. Brexit…

England urgently needs a plan to devolve power to all corners of the country – including the capital

The so-called “North-South divide” is in the spotlight like never before. The North’s newspapers have banded together to demand central…

Ministers’ rejection of One Yorkshire is an opportunity to give Yorkshire’s cities the powers they need

On Tuesday the Government revealed its long-awaited response to the proposal for a One Yorkshire devolution deal. James Brokenshire MP,…

James Brokenshire’s rejection of the One Yorkshire devolution deal absolutely stinks of partisanship

There was, by some accounts, much mirth in the civil service when the cabinet minister responsible for devolution to the…

An open letter to the British government: Working with mid-sized cities will solve your problems

Dear Prime Minister, UK productivity growth is struggling. Social inequalities and divisions are becoming more widely entrenched. And these pressing…