Only a respect for industry will ‘level up’ the north

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Boris Johnson and Michael Gove in the driver’s cab of a tram during a visit to Blackpool Transport Depot on Thursday (PA)

Levelling up? Was it not mostly Conservative administrations which oversaw the decline of industry and associated decimation of northern communities, now so mourned? Yes, of course the coal industry and many others urgently needed to be modernised, and outdated trade union practices tackled, but the doctrinaire methods used in those grim days of the 1970s and 80s took little or no account of the consequences for real people.

The rush to “offshore” unloved, grimy industries, and the relentless pursuit of cost cutting, left millions of skilled employees destitute and support infrastructure without income. That legacy is with us still.

A few million quid and a couple of vote-catching announcements from a crippled Tory government will not have much effect. Only when respect for industry and its key place in society is fully appreciated will the north of England return to a position “level” with the currently bloated south.