of hopes
REDCAR (awp/afp) – In Redcar, in the North East of England, signs of the industrial prosperity of yesteryear are omnipresent. A sad memory of a bygone era for nostalgic inhabitants who feel abandoned by London.
Teesside’s steelworks — once the largest in the UK — dominate the landscape for miles around and serve as a reminder of when the city’s steel was used around the world, including for build Sydney’s famous Harbor Bridge.
“When the steel mills closed, it was just horrible,” recalls Sandra Cottrell, 64.
This mother of four has watched the industry crumble over the past two decades. “My son and everyone worked there (…) He had always known only the steelworks and then he had to go to work in Manchester,” she told AFP.
So here, the inhabitants do not really believe in the great project of “Leveling Up” (leveling up) of the disadvantaged post-industrial regions of the country, flagship project of Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
Mr Johnson had made regional rebalancing one of his major pro-Brexit campaign promises and announced targets for 2030 in terms of higher wages, improved transport, internet access and even increase in educational level or reduction in insecurity.
“Leveling Up”
“Honestly, I don’t know” what to expect, Ms Cottrell says as many shops in downtown Redcar have closed or been replaced by low-cost stores.
Timid signs of renewal are nonetheless observable. Regeneration work in the town – which had acquired a local reputation for crime, poverty and neglect – is progressing, partly funded by the “Leveling Up” program.
“That’s what we need around here. I just feel like we’ve been left out a bit, but they realize we’re here now,” said Cath Smith, a neighbor of 60 years.
She too remembers with nostalgia the 1970s, when “everyone was working” in the region. At the time, his father and most of the men were hired at the steelworks, then owned by the state.
But after privatization in 1988, she watched helplessly as the industry disappeared and blamed successive governments for failing to support the thousands of workers who lost their jobs.
“They didn’t care,” says Ms Smith. “It’s like we don’t exist.”
“Forgotten”
In Bradford, a hundred miles to the southwest, it was wool and not steel that had made the town prosperous. But the nostalgia of the inhabitants is the same as in Redcar.
“When I was little, it was just fantastic,” Judith Holmes, 69, told AFP.
“The trade, the wool (…) All the stores were open. We prospered, it was vibrant, it was fabulous”, she recalls.
Bradford, the sixth largest city in England with one of the youngest populations in Europe, also experiences unemployment and poverty.
“I am convinced that Bradford has been forgotten, that’s for sure,” said Ms Holmes, echoing the residents of Redcar.
“We were made a lot of promises but it never materialized,” she insists. “It’s going to take time to bring back (this prosperity). I think it’s possible, but they (the authorities) have to start doing it now rather than saying ‘maybe’ by distributing funds here and there. .”
This former post office employee cleans offices twice a week to make ends meet.
As in Redcar, she is skeptical of the Prime Minister’s ambition to correct the major territorial inequalities. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” she says.
“I probably won’t see it at my age but I hope it will happen for others, for my grandchildren. I hope they will have a brighter future.”
According to her, the Prime Minister is disconnected from reality and “should come here to spend a few days and struggle like many people”.
“I have nothing against Boris Johnson but personally I don’t think he understands.”
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