Thread by @JackShawLPC

Listened to the Institute for Government event on #LevellingUp this morning, which provoked three thoughts. A short thread:

The first is I think addressing short-term priorities is often mischaracterised as a cosmetic second order priority. The position most often taken is that we should focus on long-term systems change instead.

I agree that short-term priorities shouldn't be pursued at the expense of long-term priorities, but I think the former can create the conditions to support the latter.

People also measure their lives in large part by what they see, experience and feel on a daily basis. They also have expectations about when their #LevellingUp priorities will be delivered. From More in Common's @LukeTryl:

@LukeTryl My second thought is there is a good deal of comparmentalisation. One of the panelists asked how the scale of devolution - functional economic geographies - interacts with our sense of place, which is thought to be more local.

I asked a similar question in relation to public services, but more importantly we at @ExpertiseUnder and @BennettInst are doing some thinking about this in the context of pride in place. Keep an eye out.

https://twitter.com/JackShawLPC/status/1519979090647912449

My final point is a question and a challenge: why is “the economy, stupid” axiomatic? The value of pride and place-making, for example, is primarily seen through the lens of economic growth or as an instrument of economic growth. Not entirely unhelpful, but it is one-dimensional.

While I think pride can help drive economic growth, is it the primary concern and are we asking the right question and looking in the right place?