Unbalanced Britain needs more devolution to manage Brexit

With woeful productivity in parts, local authorities should decide how to spend the cash that replaces EU funds

Throughout the 1980s, a war raged between Westminster and the rest of the country that has had lasting effects. Fearing councils under the control of Michael Foot's Labour opposition, Margaret Thatcher stripped power from town halls in a sweeping political land grab that still marks Britain today.

London's economy during the 1970s and much of the 1980s had more in common with the rest of the country than today. It even grew at a slower pace than many other regions, but the big bang deregulation of financial services in 1986 under Nigel Lawson, then chancellor, helped London's economy to boom - aided by fat profits from investment banks in the City. At the same time, the north's industrial base came under attack from Thatcher's reforms, since when manufacturing as a share of national income has fallen from a quarter to just over 10%.