The Tories won’t ‘level up’ the north while they’re in thrall to London | Simon Jenkins

The capital drains the UK of its young people. Michael Gove must put re-establishing local pride at the centre of his agenda

Michael Gove should be a bishop, not a politician. He smiles. He nods. He declares “missions” and blesses all and sundry. His current diocese is Britain’s northern cities, which are suffering the worst regional disparity of any OECD country and said to be crippling the British economy. Boris Johnson has acknowledged this in his “levelling up” agenda. But to govern is to gov...