成人论坛

In May 2012 成人论坛 North inaugurated the annual Brian Redhead Lecture in honour of the legendary co-presenter of 成人论坛 Radio 4's Today programme.听

This year the speech was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Rt Hon George Osborne MP on Friday 24 May 2013 at MediaCityUK.

"Brian Redhead was a huge figure in our national political life.

He spent nearly two decades as the chief interrogator of our leading politicians on the Today Programme - a period spanning from Harold Wilson鈥檚 second administration to the Clinton era.

I never met him, but Brian Redhead was known for being a big character.He recalled that in his final examinations at Cambridge he wrote: 'It seems to me that none of the questions set is worth answering, so I will write about the following four topics.'

Apparently, answering the question you would have liked to have been asked - instead of the one you were actually asked 鈥� turns out to be a vice of Today Programme presenters, and not just politicians...

Simon Hoggart, who Brian helped appoint to the Guardian, recalls that he was 'charming, extraordinarily talented... and a tremendous name dropper'.

He told one friend, 鈥淚 met a lady the other day...well, it was the Queen, actually.鈥�

But he wasn鈥檛 afraid to stand up to powerful people.

He was known for his tough questioning, including his famous bust-up with Nigel Lawson.
In the middle of a fierce interview, the then Chancellor accused him of being a lifelong Labour supporter.

Brian stopped the interview mid-flow, and demanded an apology on air and called for a minute鈥檚 silence until he got it.

Mind you, there are times when I wouldn鈥檛 mind being offered a minute鈥檚 silence in the middle of a Today Programme interview.

One bias he never apologised for was his strong northern bias.

He was a famous advocate of Manchester and the north.

It could sneak even into his weather reports.

As he said on air: "Now the weather; bright in the north, dull in the south. Just like the people really,"

Like many here today I didn鈥檛 know Brian Redhead.

But there鈥檚 still a lot we can all learn from his career.

He had a very non-London view.

So I thought I鈥檇 talk to you today about that non-London view.

First, why it matters to journalists and politicians alike.

Second, that the gravitational pull from our capital city is very strong indeed, and other parts of the country have to fight very hard to escape it.

And third, that both in our politics and journalism, we need to avoid falling into the trap I鈥檝e already fallen into in this speech, of thinking about the North as a single block 鈥� because it isn鈥檛.

Let me start with different perspectives.

For almost three years when Brian was working on the Today programme, Brian presented it from Manchester, while John Timpson presented from London.

The idea was to inject a non-metropolitan perspective into the coverage of national and international stories.

I think that鈥檚 important whether you aspire to be a national broadcaster or to be a national political party.

That鈥檚 why the move to Salford, and having more production outside London, is not just good for the 成人论坛 and good for its audience too.

Things often look different outside the capital.

For example, listen only to Londoners and you鈥檇 think that improving public transport is regarded as a much higher priority than reducing the price of fuel.

In London 22% think cutting fuel duty should be a priority.

But in the north it鈥檚 43% - that鈥檚 because many more people outside the capital use their car to get to work.

When the fuel protests happened in 2000, it took broadcasters by complete surprise.
Why?

Because it started here, near Manchester, in my constituency 鈥� and London based broadcasters not only didn鈥檛 understand it.

They thought it was frankly eccentric.

In London 38% think cutting energy bills should be a priority.

In the north it鈥檚 54%.

In London, 51% agree with the statement 鈥渨e should allow almost no immigration.鈥�
In the north 66% agree.

In the north 55% of people think that people in their area are nicer than average.

Sadly, only 20% of Londoners think the same way.

Whether it鈥檚 the economy, or immigration, or crime or schools, the big issues facing the country can look very different outside the M25.

And you know better than anyone that if you do a vox pop in a street in Salford you鈥檒l get a different answer than you would in Wood Lane or Shepherds Bush Market.
Let alone the mean streets of Portland Place.

Brian Redhead was right about different perspectives being good for journalists.
But it鈥檚 good for politicians too.

One of Brian鈥檚 running jokes on the programme was about his imaginary support group 'Friends of the M6.'

As a frequent traveller up and down the M6 between Westminster and my constituency, I鈥檓 also a card carrying member 鈥� though calling myself a Friend of the M6 might be taking it too far.

He was a one-man promotional agency for Macclesfield, which he modestly described as 鈥渢he centre of the Universe鈥�.

As well as living in London, I鈥檝e also lived around Macclesfield for 13 years.

It鈥檚 a great place 鈥� but the centre of the universe?

But I鈥檓 not going to dispute the rigorous impartiality of 成人论坛 journalism.

I was born in the centre of London.

I enjoyed growing up and going to school there, and I think it鈥檚 one of the greatest cities in the world.

But if I鈥檓 being honest I think it鈥檚 been good for me to represent a northern constituency.

Representing a northern seat has given me a perspective on the country I would never have got if I鈥檇 continued to live in London 鈥� and exposed me to views about Britain I would not have heard before.

Brian Redhead lived in a village called Rainow 鈥� also in the Peak District, and would use it as a litmus test of politicians鈥� ideas.

He would say to politicians like Margaret Thatcher and Jim Callaghan, 'What will the villagers of Rainow think...' about this education policy or that tax policy.

Well at least I鈥檝e got a better chance of answering those questions than many, because I actually lived in Rainow for a decade 鈥� the same village as Redhead.

This different perspective affects my politics and my political judgements.

I don鈥檛 think I would have been such a big supporter of High Speed 2 if I hadn鈥檛 been an MP in the North of England.

When I pushed for us to go ahead with it, despite all the opposition, I knew what a difference it would make to our economic geography up here 鈥� and how much support it would have in cities like this one.

And when I decided to go ahead with electrifying the Trans-Pennine railway, it was much easier to understand why it matters, living in the foothills of those Pennines.
Nor would I have understood just how important rural broadband is to those who don鈥檛 live in a wifi zone.

Along with other North West MPs, I was a big supporter of the 成人论坛鈥檚 move to Salford.
I championed the idea when it was first proposed; I visited the site when it was under construction; I think it鈥檚 fair to say I was the leading advocate in my party for the change.

In a speech at Manchester Business School six years ago, I said the 成人论坛鈥檚 move to Salford must go ahead. Such a move would be good for Salford and good for Manchester. And it would good for the 成人论坛 too. Our national broadcaster would have a different perspective on our country.

That was six years ago.

Six years later the move has taken place 鈥� and been a spectacular success.

We have to make sure it stays that way.

And that brings me to my second point.

I told you Brian presented the Today programme from the North.

But it didn鈥檛 work and didn鈥檛 last.Despite his passion to present that northern perspective, Brian wasn鈥檛 able to keep the Today programme being presented from Manchester.

Eventually the whole operation was moved to London.

It wasn鈥檛 the first that had happened to Brian.

He was working at the Manchester Guardian when it moved its editorial team to London in the sixties.

Some say he missed out on becoming the Guardian鈥檚 editor because there was a vote of staff, at a time when most of the staff had moved to London while he remained in up Manchester.

So my second reflection on Brian鈥檚 life would be about the powerful gravitational pull that London has.

We have a very dominant capital city that sucks in talent and business not just from all over Britain but from all over the world.

Having access to London 鈥� the fourth biggest city in the world by wealth 鈥� brings a lot of advantages to people all across Britain.

But Manchester鈥檚 Independent Economic Review argued, there are 鈥減owerful market forces鈥� pulling activity into London and the South East.

Other towns and cities need to work hard to resist it.

I think Manchester has done a pretty good job at doing so.

The renewal of the city centre.

The growth of the university.

The transformation of Salford Quays.

There has been real success of civic leadership 鈥� and I pay tribute to people like Sir Howard Bernstein who have made it happen.But it鈥檚 an uphill task 鈥� and it requires constant thought and attention.

For the facts are these.

In the decade or so before the crash, during the boom years, the north-south economic gap widened.

In terms of value added per head, Yorkshire fell from being 12% behind the national average, to 20% behind.

The North West fell from 13% behind to 17%, and the North East from 23% to 25%.
In fact, by 2005 the output of just the financial services in London had overtaken the entire North East economy.

Brian Redhead鈥檚 career shows is that it鈥檚 easy for institutions and activity to get gradually sucked into London as the result of piecemeal decisions.

Over decades, politicians of all parties have tried to counteract that by moving government call centres and back office jobs out of London, and that鈥檚 sensible as far as it goes.

But we need to think about moving the most highly skilled jobs and the centres of institutions as well.

And we need to think about how we use relocation to drive job creation in the private sector, not just move government jobs - particularly where we could build on existing hubs and clusters of private sector strength.

That鈥檚 why the 成人论坛 in Salford is so different.

The 成人论坛 has long had regional bureaus 鈥� in Birmingham, in Bristol, in Leeds, and there has long been a bureau on Oxford Road that I鈥檝e visited many times.

What鈥檚 completely different about MediaCityUK is that entire departments 鈥� like 成人论坛 Sport, Children and Radio 5 live - have relocated here, as well as flagship news programmes like 成人论坛 Breakfast.

It鈥檚 about so much more than the jobs at the 成人论坛 鈥� more even than the 成人论坛 better serving audiences in the North of England 鈥� important as that is.

You haven鈥檛 just 'moved jobs'.

The 成人论坛 coming here has helped to drive growth in the private sector, and to build on the creative strength that was already here thanks to the likes of Granada.

It has been catalyst for what is now the biggest creative digital hub in Europe outside of London.

It鈥檚 created opportunities for Manchester鈥檚 young people to build their skills 鈥� through the 成人论坛 and Salford University鈥檚 digital media programmes, and the 成人论坛鈥檚 apprenticeship scheme.

And it鈥檚 meant new jobs 鈥� not just in established companies like ITV, doc10 and SIS...but also in SMEs, and independent app and game creators.

Media City would not have worked if it had been plonked down in a city that didn鈥檛 already have a history in the creative industries, hadn鈥檛 been the home of Granada, and where exciting things in the media weren鈥檛 already happening 鈥� albeit not on a big enough scale.

It works because it goes with the grain.

It鈥檚 already a place people want to live.

And because it鈥檚 got a critical mass.

So the challenge for the country is how to build on this model to bring prosperity to other parts of the country.

But there鈥檚 also a challenge for the 成人论坛.

You need to keep Salford going.

The task of everyone, from the Director General downwards, is to make sure senior jobs stay here, and you鈥檙e absolutely right to look to move more departments here.

To escape from the London鈥檚 gravitational pull you need to keep the rocket boosters firing.

So when I talk about the non-London view 鈥� I mean a different perspective; and the constant battle to overcome the gravitational pull from London.

But we also need to make sure we don鈥檛 fall into the London trap of thinking everything outside London is the same.

That鈥檚 my third point.

The media, the politicians, we talk a lot about the North and the South.

But we鈥檙e not actually in an Elizabeth Gaskell novel.

And I say that as the person who represents the real life 鈥淐ranford鈥� in Parliament.

Brian鈥檚 own life captures the diversity of the North well.

He鈥檚 remembered as Mr Manchester, but was originally from the North East.

He championed this City, but he lived high up in the Peak District 鈥� in one of the more affluent places in the country 鈥� about as far from lazy clich茅s about the industrial north as you can get.

Despite this, London-based commentators still often talk as if it鈥檚 one monolithic block...

The reality is totally different and much more diverse.

Income differences within regions are larger than between regions.

The median income in the North West in 2010/11 was around 拢18,000 pounds while it was 拢23,000 in London 鈥� significant, but not as far part as the clich茅 would have us think.But within London median incomes vary from an average 拢17,000 in West Ham to an average of 拢36,000 in the Cities of London and Westminster.

The most deprived town in the UK isn鈥檛 in the north 鈥� it鈥檚 in Essex.

People sometimes imply that the north is totally dependent on public sector jobs.
In fact, Cheshire, Lincolnshire, Staffordshire and Cumbria have a higher proportion of people working in the private sector than London does.

The media falls into this trap too often 鈥� I鈥檓 reliably told that when putting together one package on Lancashire during the last election, the opening sequence was considered so predictable by the VT editor that he dubbed in the Coronation Street theme tune over the top as a jibe.

Obviously the bigger mistake for the 成人论坛 there was not the stereotyping 鈥� it was choosing an ITV show....

Broadcasters need to reflect the north鈥檚 successes as well as its problems.

And successive governments have made the same mistake of acting like the North is one big block.

Trying to attract business to the 'North West'. As if what works for the centre of Liverpool would work for rural Cumbria.

Different places have found different routes to success.

Salford and Manchester are an increasingly powerful creative hub.

Sunderland is having great success in car production, helping Britain export a record number of cars last year.

Tyneside and Teesside are world leaders in marine engineering. Preston has capitalised on its good connections to the motorways, so deliver one of the fastest rates of private sector job creation in the country.

The only way our cities can compete with the pull of London, is to play to your strengths 鈥� and that鈥檚 something we鈥檝e been trying to support 鈥� helping areas to set their own business strategies that actually make sense 鈥� just as Manchester has done in MediaCity.

That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e trying to help setting cities free from Whitehall control - devolving powers and funding under City deals and the Heseltine review.

For me, this comes back to the non-London perspective.

The best people to drive success stories around the country are not in London.
Let me end by saying this.

The last thing I want to highlight about Brian was his pride.

Brian claimed that: 鈥淢anchester 鈥� is the capital, in every sense, of the North of England, where the modern world was born鈥�.

You can see why.

It鈥檚 the city that gave us the first splitting of the atom, the world鈥檚 first railway station, the first stored-program computer, the suffragettes, the football league, Marks and Spencer, Rolls Royce, as well as the Smiths, the Stone Roses, and Oasis.
Brian Redhead was a man who thought differently.

He was someone who thought locally.

And he also had a great sense of local pride and optimism.That spirit lives on today, and this place is a great embodiment of that spirit.Here in Salford you are not just reporting the changes to our country 鈥� 鈥� you are part of those changes. Long may that continue."

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