The disappointing news this morning (July 5^th2011) from Bombardier about job losses at their Derby manufacturing plant has sparked a frenzy of media reporting. Today’s reportage is overwhelmingly of Government being compelled by EU rules to award a contract to German company Siemens for the £3bn Thameslink rolling stock project, thereby compelling cutbacks at Bombardier. There are media and political attractions (for both Coalition and Labour) of this account; but is it either accurate or helpful for the UKs future manufacturing vitality?

I have recently been lucky enough to attend three major outdoor arts events – Luton International Carnival (LIC) on 30th May; Alicante’s ‘Hogueras’ (a summer solstice festival); and Rutland’s performance of ‘The Way the Wind Blows’ (26^th June). All three were immensely impressive – involving hundreds (if not thousands) of performers from local communities; producing creative work – music, dance, theatre, costume etc – which is beautifully crafted, by highly talented artists, put together well and coordinated  skilfully.

Beyond the intrinsic qualities of the performance, however, two specific lessons appeared to be relevant to a development professional (I really must switch off more!).

Andrew Rawnsley’s article in today’s Guardian is a strong restatement of the North/South debates that have dominated English regional policy for at least a generation. It succinctly differentiates between the last and current government approaches to tackling these challenges – namely Labour made significant public investment in key ‘northern’ cities; the Coalition doesn’t really have an approach at all!

There is a certain predictability about how the North/South debates will evolve through this parliament. More interesting, however, is how Labour will come to terms with its positioning and offer in the ‘South’.

Chasing shadows…government U-turn on elected mayors needs to catalyse serious debate on powers for cities

Why self-respecting councils will NOT wish to be ‘damned with the faint praise’ of the current Secretary of State