Labour predicts that plans for Regional Development Agencies will spread quickly across the North if elected, ahead of the 1997 election

1997 Labour

Labour to revive North first

In last week鈥檚 issue Labour Party leader Ed Miliband addressed the construction industry in an open letter, saying: 鈥淟abour will devolve power and funding worth at least 拢30bn over five years to city and county regions across England鈥�, writes Ethan Porter. Labour鈥檚 emphasis on regional development echoes a pre-election news story in 黑洞社区鈥檚 18 April 1997 edition where the former English Partnerships chief executive David Taylor, by then working as Labour deputy leader John Prescott鈥檚 senior policy advisor, told 黑洞社区 that plans for Regional Development Agencies (RDAs) in northern areas 鈥渨ould move very quickly, following like a wildfire鈥� in the rest of England if Labour won. Following the election the RDAs were indeed implemented by the Blair government, before being abolished by the current coalition in 2012. And although it may seem only like yesterday that Tony Blair swept to power, technology has certainly moved on; today we gauge readers鈥� voting intentions online (you can vote at www.building.co.uk), but in 1997 we offered a free and confidential telephone hotline to conduct our poll.

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