London should contribute more to the North but punishing the capital just hurts everybody

As we Londoners mourn the end of our liberties for another month of lockdown, we too often forget that, in large swathes of the North, they have been in a Covid-19 deep freeze for weeks.

Where the toll on jobs and income in London has been appalling — a 171% increase in benefit claimants since March — the impact in Liverpool, Lancashire, Manchester and West Yorkshire has been far worse.

Now, as retail and hospitality shuts for another month across England, the North will suffer double trouble.

Not only will their High Streets be hit, but the manufacturers and logistics groups based there who supply the rest of us will be damaged, too.

Covid’s effect of crowbarring wider the North-South divide is triggering a dangerous new enmity towards London. 

Manchester mayor Andy Burnham has been regularly positioning his demand for more government Covid funding as a London-v-the North battle.

It all helps win new Tory voters in the North back to Labour, and the Government knows it.

Already Number 10 has carried out “anti-London” crowdpleasers such as banning Duty Free for tourists.

But while bashing London may feel good, it does not help the North one bit. 

Londoners paid an average £18,195 in tax last year compared with £9500 in the North-East. 

We paid £4369 more into the Treasury than we received in public spending on the services and infrastructure we use. 

The surplus leaves London, to be spent elsewhere.

That said, public spending per head in London is higher than all parts of the UK bar Scotland and Northern Ireland. 

It feels like that has to change. 

As we come out of this Covid mess, London should contribute even more to the regions, particularly where that spending will trigger long term economic growth.

But in return, we must be allowed to keep earning the money to pay for it. 

Levelling the capital down helps nobody.