Levelling up

[Orang Utan]

Is this the emptiest bullshit politician phrase of the year?
We even have ministers for it wtf. Shouldn’t we be levelling down not up?

 

[Pickman's model]

We should be tramping down

 

[platinumsage]

I can’t get over the fact it’s now part of the name of an actual government department.

 

[Edie]

I can’t get over the fact it’s now part of the name of an actual government department.

Me neither. The Department of Levelling Up. Liars. They’re laughing at you n me.

 

[splonkydoo]

I'm sure Gove feels levelled up after a few lines

 

[RainbowTown]

They’re laughing at you n me.

And have been laughing at us since the moment they came into power.

 

[Edie]

And have been laughing at us since the moment they came into power.

Long before that tbh

 

[Edie]

Still, more fool us.

 

[NoXion]

I can’t get over the fact it’s now part of the name of an actual government department.

It is genuinely disgusting to me that such corporate bollockspeak is considered acceptable in governance.

 

[Orang Utan]

It just means they can talk about ‘fairness’ without redistributing wealth through fairer taxes

 

[ska invita]

Is this the emptiest bullshit politician phrase of the year?
We even have ministers for it wtf. Shouldn’t we be levelling down not up?

Up there with Big Society, though that was saying we're cutting services, if you miss them do it yourself, which kind of happened with libraries at least, unlike this which will never happen

 

[ska invita]

The fact the press talk about this like it's actually a thing is infuriating

 

[xenon]

Northern powerhouse. It was good when they done that wasn’t it.

 

[hitmouse]

I keep hoping it'll have something to do with this lot:

 

[StoneRoad]

Definitely a case of tory double-speak.

Absolutely total bullshit & full of empty promises, probably made as a sop to their "new" voter base ...
nothing will happen.

 

[Orang Utan]

The fact the press talk about this like it's actually a thing is infuriating

And the fact that the opposition are playing along too

 

[ska invita]

I remember hearing one of them saying that their freeport plans are part of the levelling up agenda....

Freeports and Charter Cities

what are peoples thoughts on freeports. looks to me like the major post-brexit development strategy. i vaguely remember reading about freeports 20 years ago now in Naomi Kleins No Logo, and they sounded like a disaster, but i dont remember the details...

www.urban75.net

eta:

Freeports are at the centre of the levelling up agenda - Humber ABP director

New status to boost global trade and UK manufacturing flagged alongside role in decarbonisation

www.business-live.co.uk

cunts
their plan for northern prosperity is to let some businesses move to zones where they dont have to pay taxes or respect laws around workers rights

 

[Orang Utan]

I remember hearing one of them saying that their freeport plans are part of the levelling up agenda....

Freeports and Charter Cities

what are peoples thoughts on freeports. looks to me like the major post-brexit development strategy. i vaguely remember reading about freeports 20 years ago now in Naomi Kleins No Logo, and they sounded like a disaster, but i dont remember the details...

www.urban75.net

eta:

Freeports are at the centre of the levelling up agenda - Humber ABP director

New status to boost global trade and UK manufacturing flagged alongside role in decarbonisation

www.business-live.co.uk

cunts
their plan for northern prosperity is to let some businesses move to zones where they dont have to pay taxes or respect laws around workers rights

Whose prosperity is that then? Oh yes, their tax avoiding mates, with their trickle-down-proof coffers full of cash

 

[SpookyFrank]

It is genuinely disgusting to me that such corporate bollockspeak is considered acceptable in governance.

The Department for Brown Envelopes and Pork Barrels didn't make it past the focus group stage.

 

[splonkydoo]

I actually don't think it's the worst term. It is the fact of who is saying it, and the obvious emptiness behind it.

 

[Ming]

What is it about three word slogans in modern political messaging?. It’s a not very subtle way of saying ‘you’re thick cunts and this is the most we think you can handle you gullible twat’.

So here’s my attempt. ‘Delivering Value Now’. DVN. It’s going to catch on.

 

[Orang Utan]

ALWAY BE CLOSING hasn’t worked for Alec Baldwin has it?

 

[stdP]

Is this the emptiest bullshit politician phrase of the year?
We even have ministers for it wtf. Shouldn’t we be levelling down not up?

I think it's less empty than it seems. When it becomes plain to see there's no money in the kitty and no intention of improving the situation across the country, it'll degenerate to punishing the (largely labour/liberal/green-voting) metropolitan areas in an effort to convince their base that they're doing their best to reduce inequality... just by trying to drag everything down. As was mentioned with Big Society above, if anything happens it'll largely be ideological moves to cut surviving services past the bone and down to the marrow.

For instance, I fully expect the TfL funding crisis to be weaponised against London given the current government performance. "Why should Londoners get a bus every hour when you only get two a day for the whole village?! Let's show those smug elites what it's like!"

 

[Orang Utan]

I think it's less empty than it seems. When it becomes plain to see there's no money in the kitty and no intention of improving the situation across the country, it'll degenerate to punishing the (largely labour/liberal/green-voting) metropolitan areas in an effort to convince their base that they're doing their best to reduce inequality... just by trying to drag everything down. As was mentioned with Big Society above, if anything happens it'll largely be ideological moves to cut surviving services past the bone and down to the marrow.

For instance, I fully expect the TfL funding crisis to be weaponised against London given the current government performance. "Why should Londoners get a bus every hour when you only get two a day for the whole village?! Let's show those smug elites what it's like!"

Difficult to argue with though when it costs £1.55 to go over 20 miles on a single bus that goes every five minutes, but elsewhere it costs £4 or more to travel a couple of miles down the road to town or the next suburb

 

[stdP]

Difficult to argue with though when it costs £1.55 to go over 20 miles on a single bus that goes every five minutes, but elsewhere it costs £4 or more to travel a couple of miles down the road to town or the next suburb

I'm certainly not arguing that most bus services in the UK are shit and colossally expensive (especially once you factor time in to the equation as well). The pricing angle at least, if I've been reading correctly, is largely due to deregulation and lack of price controls on fares. IIRC London avoided going down that particular hole by imposing strict regulation via TfL on the bus companies.

 

[Orang Utan]

I'm certainly not arguing that most bus services in the UK are shit and colossally expensive (especially once you factor time in to the equation as well). The pricing angle at least, if I've been reading correctly, is largely due to deregulation and lack of price controls on fares. IIRC London avoided going down that particular hole by imposing strict regulation via TfL on the bus companies.

And also having massive subsidies that regional transport doesn’t

 

[Ming]

ALWAY BE CLOSING hasn’t worked for Alec Baldwin has it?

We’ve got a thing at work called ABAing (Aways Be Assessing). You end up not being to turn it of easily.

 

[Ming]

XRS. Xylophone Replacement Suture.
ETA: For England.

 

[SpookyFrank]

Difficult to argue with though when it costs £1.55 to go over 20 miles on a single bus that goes every five minutes, but elsewhere it costs £4 or more to travel a couple of miles down the road to town or the next suburb

You can get unlimited travel in zones 1-3 all day on an Oyster card for the same price as one return bus ticket to go 10 miles in Devon.

Not saying that Londoners should pay more, only that any cash for transport subsidies should not be going to London as it's manifestly least in need of it.

 

[stdP]

And also having massive subsidies that regional transport doesn’t

Not wanting to turn this in to a public transport argument or sound too much of a TfL fanboy, but isn't much of the reason for disparity in services that London has a pretty strict regulatory fare regime for its buses and most places outside of the capital do not...? I don't know if it ever came in to force or not but it was something Andy Burnham was looking to explore for Manc a few years back.

In Greater Manchester, Burnham wants to take advantage of a new law that enables combined authority mayors to take up bus franchising powers or work in partnership with local bus operators.

"The cost of bus transport is too high and priced badly, in that it’s cheap for people who can afford weeklies but punishing for people who have to live day to day,” he said. “The ticketing regime really punishes ad-hoc users. I think you want a London system that doesn’t do that, that encourages easy use."

‘Massively unfair’ gulf in bus fares between London and rest of England

Research reveals Londoners pay £1.50 for a single ticket but a five-mile journey in Hampshire can cost £5.65

www.theguardian.com

As to what the actual level of non-fare subsidy is in various parts of the UK I don't know (suspect it varies considerably with each local authority), but I do seem to remember from recent articles on the TfL funding crisis that about 70% of their funding comes solely from ticket fares, compared to 40% for somewhere like Paris.