THE ZOOMTOWN RATS
The only way to really Level Up is to move wealth.
And moving wealth means moving people. Sorry, Mr Gove, it’s not about infrastructure or, as the French say, Grands projets.
We cannot force people to move. The days when we could empty a Welsh village to build a reservoir for Manchester are gone. (Thank you for your comment, Madam, that was not called for).
The obvious way to move people is to incentivise – pay, in other words – them to move.
But when people are forced to relocate, they squeal like pigs and become angry and sometimes refuse to move and quit their jobs. When the Office for National Statistics moved to a lovely new HQ in Newport South Wales, 90 per cent of the staff refused to move and instead left the organisation. (Madam, I’ve warned you before about these outbursts about the Principality.)
The pandemic has changed the way we work forever. And this provides an unique opportunity for real Levelling Up. (Pay attention Michael.)
Rather than force people to move, we have to pay them to move to the parts of the country which are in need of investment.
And remote working – whether we like it or not – is here to stay and makes this very feasible.
It’s rampant in the States and these Zoom Towns are booming. And the Rats are flocking to them as they would off a sinking ship. And they’re being paid to jump.
In West Virginia, to the west of Washington DC, you will be paid $12,000 with no strings attached to move. To sweeten the pot, you get several other perks such as free access to all public amenities for a year bringing the total package to $20,000.
If you don’t want to go that far, you can try Europe. The gorgeous medieval town of Santo Stefano di Sessanio in the center of Italy is offering people up to $52,500 in grants to move there and work—and possibly even set up a business. There are few catches, but one is that you must be under 40 (damn, just missed).
And if Italia is not to your liking, you can try Estonia (known as E-stonia), Romania, Poland, Bulgaria (snow and sea), Romania, Poland, Latvia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Anguilla, Barbados or Bermuda. I’m on Skyscanner right now.
So, what is Michael up to? The new draft Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill says we should concentrate development in the 20 largest urban conurbations. This is going to end up like Branson’s rocket.
There are parts of the UK that are crying out for an influx of new young people to invest in their communities and re-invigorate them. How about the Lake District. Right on its western edge, you have Workington, Whitehaven and Maryport all needing a boost to reduce their dependence on Sellafield.
Sorry, I have a Zoom call and have to dash.
Have a good weekend.
Tom