Moving the House of Lords to York would do nothing to fix the north-south divide | Tom Kibasi

This tokenistic plan undermines the government's claim that it wants to tackle regional inequality

A new House of Lords will not be built in York for a simple reason: such an endeavour is replete with political risk for the governing party while unlikely to sway many votes at the next election. Building a fully functioning modern legislature would cost hundreds of millions while paying the expenses of peers between London and York would invite the same ridicule as the European parliament's daft journeys between Brussels and Strasbourg. Poring over the details of construction costs would be a boon for tabloid journalists but a millstone for the Tories at the next election. And even if it were to happen, it would be a mere token. So what would a real plan to address regional inequality entail?

The scale of the challenge cannot be overstated. The gap between the richest and poorest regions in the UK in 2020 is wider than that between east and west Germany at the time of the fall of the Berlin wall. London is the wealthiest region in northern Europe, while six of the 10 poorest regions are found elsewhere in the UK. Productivity (what each worker produces in an hour) in London and the south-east is 30% higher than every other region of England as well as Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland does somewhat better - but productivity there is still 20% lower. There are no quick fixes.

Related: What has the 'northern powerhouse' actually done for the people of the north? | Chi Onwurah