Sorry Sadiq, you're talking rubbish - the idea London is being 'levelled down' is laughable
Stories of London feeling 'short-changed' had been circulating in the run up to the Spending Review this week. Then, moments after Rachel Reeves revealed her spending plans, Sadiq Khan actually said it. He had the gall to suggest London is being 'levelled down'.
The mayor was moaning that there was no commitment from the Chancellor to invest in new infrastructure that the capital needs.
He talked of plans to extend the Docklands Light Railway. You know? The self-driving trains that have served the capital since 1987.
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It would take another five years before the first Metrolink trams were launched in Greater Manchester, serving just a few stops.
Decades later, despite the Metrolink having expanded considerably, London's transport network has become even more enormous.
Just three years ago, the £19bn Crossrail project was completed with the new Elizabeth line joining the other 11 on the Tube map.
Earlier this week, a northern think tank revealed that, if the government had spent the same amount on transport in the North as it did in London over the last 14 years, we would have had £140bn more with the capital getting more than double the funding per person.
News last week that the North and Midlands will get more than £15bn for transport over the next five years starts to correct that.
The Chancellor has also put another £3.5bn towards the Transpennine Route Upgrade for existing services between Manchester, Leeds and York, and promised to 'take forward' Northern Powerhouse Rail with more details on these plans expected next week.
But years of under-investment cannot be reversed in one Spending Review. The gap between London and the rest of the country remains massive - not only when it comes to transport infrastructure, but with economic growth, education and opportunities too.
Sir Sadiq is right to say that 'the way to level up other regions is never to level down London'. But that is not what's happening.
Of course, the mayor will always make the case for the city he represents - as he should. But his 'us-versus-them' rhetoric is unhelpful.
We all want the country to prosper, so investment in regions that have long been neglected should be welcomed in the capital too.
It's not Manchester versus London. Comparisons only serve to illustrate how massively underfunded Manchester has been for so long.
The idea that London is being 'levelled down' is laughable. The fact that the mayor feels the need to moan about it is quite funny.
But if that's how he really feels, well, maybe that's not such a bad thing. Maybe it's time for London to feel that way for a change.
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