22 January 2024 , 00:01
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Brits have been left with thousands of pounds less disposable income and savings due to poor growth under the Tories, a bombshell report says.
City-by-city analysis found that people have missed out on an average of £10,200 as a result of the economy flatlining since 2010. If it had gone up in line with growth under Labour, between 1998 and 2010, people in five cities - Aberdeen, Cambridge, Milton Keynes, Burnley and Glasgow - would have been over £20,000 better off.
This has been branded "levelling down" amid calls for stronger action to stop the slump. According to the research, rates of children in relative poverty have risen in almost every city.
Andrew Carter, chief executive of Centre for Cities, which carried out the research, said: “The UK has had a torrid time since the Great Recession. Everywhere, up and down the country, including places that were doing relatively well before, has been levelled down because of the lack of growth. To get growth in every place, the next Government needs to act at a radically different pace and scale, and mark the beginning of a multi-decade policy programme."
Angela Rayner, Labour’s Deputy Leader and Shadow Levelling Up Secretary, said the figures highlight the scale of Tory failure.
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She said: “For all their promises to level up Britain, the Tories’ 14 years of failure have seen our country levelled down with people left worse off and crying out for change.
“Labour’s mission to return Britain to growth means moving away from the Tories’ failed sticking plaster approach, boosting living standards and good jobs in every part of the country to drive productivity and opportunity."
She said a Labour Government would reform the planning process and give local leaders more control - which she said would drive growth.
A UK Government spokesman said: "We are committed to levelling-up every corner of the UK, investing billions to support community regeneration projects, connecting 25.7 million premises with gigabit broadband, and over 50% of England is now covered by a devolution deal.
"We have halved the number of people on low pay with increases in the national living wage, and thanks to an above-inflation increase to tax allowances, we have also saved the average earner over £1,000 a year since 2010. We did so after two massive global shocks - Covid and Putin's war of aggression against Ukraine - which affected every economy worldwide. And yet, the UK has grown faster than Germany, Italy, France, Spain and Japan."
The 10 cities where people missed out the most
- Aberdeen - -£45,240 on average
- Burnley - -£28,090
- Glasgow - -£23,500
- Milton Keynes - -£21,610
- Cambridge - -£21,340
- Dundee - -£17,730
- Birkenhead - -£17,540
- Ipswich - -£17,390
- Exeter - -£16,990
- Plymouth - -£16,340